DIETARY SOURCES OF SODIUM INTAKE IN ADOLESCENTS FROM A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NITERÓI - RJ, BRAZIL

Background and objectives: Sodium intake among adolescents is above the recommendations. The objective of this study is to identify the major sources of sodium intake among adolescent students. Methods: The data is from PAPPAS study, which stands for "Parents, students and teachers for healthy eating" in Portuguese, conducted in a public school from Niterói-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2015, with students from 5th to 9th grade. Daily sodium intake was estimated by the mean of two 24-hour dietary recall. The food items mentioned was classified into 31 groups. Contribution to total daily sodium intake (%) and sodium density (mg sodium/100g of food items from the group) for each food group were estimated. The software SAS v.9.3 was used to data analysis. Results: A total of 347 adolescents participated in the study and 51% were male. The average age was 12.7 years old. The average daily intake of sodium was 3777.5mg, over the maximum tolerable level (2200mg/d for 9-13 years and 2300 mg/d for 14-18 years). The ten major sources of sodium intake were rice (11.2%), beans (10.2%), sugar-sweetened beverages (9.9%), sweets (6.8%), milk and dairy products (6.3%), bread (6.2%), soft drinks (6.1%), meat (4.8%), poultry (3.7%) and processed meat (3.7%). Among them, processed meat (950mg/100g), bread (642mg/100g) and meat (414mg/100g) presented the highest sodium density. The groups were mostly consumed at home. However, savory biscuits (11th position in the contribution) were mostly consumed at school. Conclusions: Total daily sodium intake among students was over the recommended and high at home. Despite the important contribution of ultra-processed foods, major sources included groups which comprise part of the traditional Brazilian diet. Particular attention should be directed toward educational strategies focused on reducing ultra-processed foods intake, as well as the reduction in voluntary use of salt in food preparation.