Blood pressure and sodium intake from snacks in adolescents

Background/Objectives:The relationship between sodium intake and arterial blood pressure (BP) values in adolescence is still controversial. The intake of high-sodium processed foods as snacks has gone up worldwide. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze the association between BP values and sodium intake from snacks.Subjects/Methods:The mean weekly consumption of snacks was evaluated in 1200 randomly selected adolescents aged 11-13 years by a food-frequency questionnaire; their anthropometric and BP values were measured by trained researchers. A dietary 24-h food-recall questionnaire was randomly given to 400 of the 1200 adolescents.Results:Mean sodium intake from snacks was 1.4 g/day. Systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP, respectively) significantly increased from the lower to the higher tertile of sodium from snacks and with increasing frequency of salty snacks consumption. In a multiple logistic regression model, both being in the highest SBP quartile and in the highest DBP quartile were significantly associated with the intake of sodium from snacks (odds ratio (OR)=1.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.91 and OR=2.17; 95% CI 1.68-2.79, respectively), the consumption of >2/day salty snacks (OR=1.86; 95% CI 1.32-2.63 and OR=2.38; 95% CI 1.69-3.37, respectively) and body mass index (OR=1.26; 95% CI 1.22-1.31 and OR=1.14; 95% CI 1.10-1.18, respectively) but not with age, sex or exercise levels. In the 400 individuals, the average total sodium intake was 3.1 g/day and was significantly higher in individuals belonging to the highest quartile of SBP and DBP.Conclusions:Sodium intake from snacks was almost half of the average daily sodium consumption and was significantly associated with BP values in adolescents.