Sodium content of processed foods frequently consumed by children in early childhood development centres in the North-West Province
Abstract
Introduction: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern for South Africa (SA). Children who are obese often suffer from cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, which can continue later in their lives. Evidence is emerging regarding the crucial role of sodium in regulating the blood pressure of children. While many factors contribute to childhood obesity and its related diseases, processed foods which are high in fat, sugar and/or sodium have been identified as a key contributing factor. The setting of the study was early childhood development centres (ECDs) situated in the Tlokwe municipality of SA. Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the true sodium content of processed foods frequently consumed by children aged two to five years and living in the Tlokwe municipality. Specific objectives included (i) identifying processed foods frequently consumed by children aged two to five years attending ECDs (ii) determining whether processed foods frequently consumed by children aged two to five years, with identified high sodium content, is included in the sodium regulation (R.214), (iii) determining the true sodium content of foods frequently consumed by children aged two to five years and lastly (iv) comparing the declared sodium value of the most frequently consumed processed food, against the true sodium value. Methods: A list of ECDs were collected from the Department of Social Development (DSD) in North West Province. From this list, a random sample of 40 ECDs was selected. A non-probability sample of the parents were included in the study. Eight ECDs were specifically targeted to conduct 24-Hour Dietary Recall (24HDR) interviews with. The 32 remaining ECDs were targeted for the Unquantified Food Frequency Questionnaire (UFFQ) interviews. The data from the 24HDR were used to compile the UFFQ. This cross-sectional study used an UFFQ specifically developed to determine the processed foods frequently consumed by children aged two to five years in the Tlokwe region, SA. Furthermore, the sodium content of the top 75th percentile of the most frequently consumed processed foods, contributing to sodium intake, was analysed by means of the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Results: In total, 15 processed food categories were identified as frequently consumed, three food products per food category were analysed by means of AAS sequential to microwave digestion to determine the true sodium content. The majority of the identified food products were included in the sodium regulation (R.214); only 13.33% were not included. The sodium measured in the different food categories varied from 4.1% to 40.7%, when comparing the nutrition information panel with the true sodium value. The findings provide valuable information to support future studies on larger varieties of processed foods frequently consumed by children. Conclusion: The valuable data collected here can support future studies on larger varieties of processed foods that children frequently consume, to establish whether the R.214 should be adjusted accordingly. Our findings showed however that the majority of the food product consumed by children is included in the regulation
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- Health Sciences [2060]