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  • Special Issue: Current evidence and perspectives for hypertension management in Asia
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Association between sodium and potassium excretion estimated from spot urine and socioeconomic status among primary school children and their mothers in Okinawa, Japan

Hypertension Research volume 47, pages 1175–1183 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Hypertension is the greatest and the most preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Excessive sodium (Na) intake and insufficient potassium (K) intake have been identified as risk factors for hypertension. Socioeconomic status (SES) may be related to diet quality. In Japan, few studies have examined the relationship between urinary Na and K excretion and SES in adults, and there are no studies in children. In 2014, 1944 children (1382 households) in all public elementary schools in Yaese town, Okinawa, Japan were recruited to participate in a study. Casual urine specimens were collected to estimate 24-h urinary Na and K excretion and urinary Na/K ratio. Mother’s educational background and household incomes were assessed and used as indicators of SES. A total of 236 pairs of children and their mothers were analyzed in this study. Urinary Na and K excretion were not significantly related to educational levels of mothers and household incomes in children. On the other hand, in mothers, lower household income group had higher 24-h estimated urinary Na excretion and urinary Na/K ratio than other groups. There was no significant difference between urinary excretion and educational levels in mothers. Household income disparities in urinary levels seen in mothers were not seen in children. There may be some factors that moderate the dietary inequalities in children.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the children and their parents who participated in the research. The authors also thank the dietitians, school nurses, and teachers who supported the research in each school, and the staffs of the municipal government of Yaese town in Okinawa for their valuable contribution.

Funding

This work was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25460740 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Uehara 207, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0215, Japan

    Sanae Ito, Minoru Takakura & Hidemi Todoriki

  2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Medicine, Toho University, Omorinishi 5-21-16, Ota-ku, Tokyo, 143-8540, Japan

    Keiko Asakura

  3. Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Seiryo-machi 4-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Kemmyo Sugiyama

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  1. Sanae Ito
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  4. Minoru Takakura
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  5. Hidemi Todoriki
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Contributions

Research conception and design: SI, KA, and HT; conducting the survey; KA, MT, and HT; interpretation of the data; SI, KA, KS, and HT; writing of the manuscript: SI, KS, and HT.

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Correspondence to Sanae Ito.

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Ito, S., Asakura, K., Sugiyama, K. et al. Association between sodium and potassium excretion estimated from spot urine and socioeconomic status among primary school children and their mothers in Okinawa, Japan. Hypertens Res 47, 1175–1183 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01564-9

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