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Sodium and potassium intake patterns and trends in South Korea

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 27, pages 298–303 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

We examined major trends and patterns regarding sodium and potassium intake and the ratio of sodium and potassium in the diets of South Koreans. We used data from 24-h dietary recall data from 10 267, 8819 and 9264 subjects ages ⩾2 years in the 1998, 2005 and 2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, respectively. Mean sodium intake did not change significantly between 1998 and 2009 (4.6 vs 4.7 g per day), while potassium intake increased significantly (2.6 vs 2.9 g per day (P<0.001)). The major dietary sodium sources were kimchi, salt, soy sauce and soybean paste, and most potassium came from unprocessed foods (white rice, vegetables, kimchi and fruits). About 50% of the participants consumed ⩾4 g of sodium per capita per day. The proportion of respondents consuming four to six grams of potassium per capita per day increased from 10.3% in 1998 to 14.3% in 2009 (P<0.001), and the sodium–potassium ratio decreased from 1.88 to 1.71 (P<0.001). One major implication is that efforts to reduce sodium in processed foods will be ineffective and future efforts must focus on both education to reduce use of sodium in food preparation and sodium replacement in salt, possibly with potassium.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Frances Dancy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Carolina Population Center, for her helpful administrative assistance, Donna R Miles for programming and technical support and Tom Swasey for graphic support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutrition Industry, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Gangoe-myeon, South Korea

    H-S Lee

  2. Department of Nutrition and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    K J Duffey & B M Popkin

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  1. H-S Lee
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  3. B M Popkin
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Correspondence to B M Popkin.

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Lee, HS., Duffey, K. & Popkin, B. Sodium and potassium intake patterns and trends in South Korea. J Hum Hypertens 27, 298–303 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2012.43

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