Sodium and potassium urinary excretion and dietary intake: a cross-sectional analysis in
adolescents
Sammanfattning
Background: Hypertension is the leading cause for heart disease and stroke, for mortality and
morbidity worldwide, and a high sodium-to-potassium intake ratio is considered a stronger risk factor
for hypertension than sodium alone.
Objective: This study aims to evaluate sodium and potassium urinary excretion, and assess the food
sources of these nutrients in a sample of Portuguese adolescents.
Design: A cross-sectional study with a sample of 250 Portuguese adolescents. Sodium and
potassium excretion were measured by one 24-h urinary collection, and the coefficient of creatinine
was used to validate completeness of urine collections. Dietary sources of sodium and potassium
were assessed using a 24-h dietary recall.
Results: Valid urine collections were provided by 200 adolescents (118 girls) with a median age of
14.0 in both sexes (p=0.295). Regarding sodium, the mean urinary excretion was 3,725 mg/day in
boys and 3,062 mg/day in girls (p<0.01), and 9.8% of boys and 22% of girls met the World Health
Organization (WHO) recommendations for sodium intake. Concerning potassium, the mean urinary
excretion was 2,237 mg/day in boys and 1,904 mg/day in girls (p<0.01), and 6.1% of boys and 1.7% of
girls met the WHO recommendations for potassium intake. Major dietary sources for sodium intake
were cereal and cereal products (41%), meat products (16%), and milk and milk products (11%); and
for potassium intake, main sources were milk and milk products (21%), meat products (17%), and
vegetables (15%).
Conclusions: Adolescents had a high-sodium and low-potassium diet, well above the WHO
recommendations. Health promotion interventions are needed in order to decrease sodium and
increase potassium intake.