West Herts College: Salt Consumption and Health Professions Research

This report presents a research project investigating salt consumption in the diet and its effects on health. The study aims to raise awareness regarding salt intake, analyzing its importance for health, the impact of consumption on people's lives, and methods for spreading awareness. The research employs both primary and secondary data collection methods, including questionnaires and literature reviews, to gather quantitative and qualitative data. The findings reveal insights into cravings for salt, brand preferences, awareness of advisory quantities, and the perceived effects of salt on water retention, blood pressure, and overall health. The results highlight varied perspectives on the impact of salt, with some respondents acknowledging its health effects while others do not. The report concludes with an evaluation of findings and discusses the implications of salt consumption for health professions. The research was conducted as part of the Access to HE Diploma in Health Professions at West Herts College.

Health Professions

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3
2.1To analyse the importance of salt in the diet to remain healthy.............................................3
2.2 To find out how salt consumption is affecting the lives of people.......................................4
2.3 To investigate the ways in which awareness about consumption of salt in the diet of
people can be spread...................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................5
RESULTS........................................................................................................................................7
EVALUATION OF FINDINGS....................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
PART 2..........................................................................................................................................16
Evaluation.................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Health is considered as the state of the complete mental, physical and social well being
which have absence of any disease. Physical well being involves the fitness of body, mental well
being is about how individual feel and think and social well being is about how an individual
lives with others. Salt is considered as an important electrolyte in a body which helps in fluid
balance, muscle function and nerve transmission (Preuss, Bagchi and Bagchi, 2020). This
research is being done to investigate the affect of salt in the diet of a person and raise the
awareness regarding the consumption of salt in human body.
Research Aim:
To raise awareness regarding the consumption of salt in the diet of people.
Research Objectives:
 To analyse the importance of salt in the diet to remain healthy.
 To find out how salt consumption is affecting the lives of people. To investigate the ways in which awareness about consumption of salt in the diet of
people can be spread.
Research Questions:
 What is the importance of salt in a diet to stay healthy ?
 What the consumption if salt is affecting the lives of human being ?
 What are the different ways in which awareness can be spread about consumption of salt
in the diet of people ?
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1To analyse the importance of salt in the diet to remain healthy.
According to Valencia Higuera (2019), salt plays an important role in the healthy lifestyle
of the people as it helps in water retention, contains healthy nutrients and support muscle
contradiction. The consumption of salt must be in moderation so that an individual can stay
healthy. The importance of salt is illustrated below- Helps in water retention in body- The body of human being relies on electrolyte which
includes salt in order to carry electrical impulse which controls various functions of body.
In order keep the functions of body healthy, it is important to have presence of electrolyte
so that thirst can be triggered and a person can consume more water.

 Stimulates muscle contradiction- Salt is an essential for the nerves as it helps in muscle
contradiction and it also helps in preventing the cramps in the muscles. It keeps the
calcium and minerals in bloodstream which helps in staying healthy.
 Contains nutrients which are vital for digestive system- Salt plays an important role in
process of digestion and the absorption as it activates the enzyme in mouth which is
called salivary amylase. It also helps in breaking down the food so that digestive
secretion can be done which lines stomach walls. So salt helps in digesting the food
rather than just trying to consume itself (Zhang and et. al., 2017).
2.2 To find out how salt consumption is affecting the lives of people.
According to Yvette Brazier (2017), salt is an essential ingredient in the food but this
ingredient can cause havoc in the lives of people if it is not consumed in right quantity. From the
long time, salt is under the scanner as it is leading to many diseases such as heart problems, high
blood pressure and many other. It is said that excessive salt diminishes the thirst and increases
the hunger of the people because higher level of energy is required after consuming excessive
salt. The following are the consequences of salt intake in high quantity which are discussed
below- Spikes blood pressure- The high blood pressure is a kind of medical condition through
which the arteries elevates the blood pressure. Salt is considered as the major perpetrator
of high BP and hyper tension. So consuming excessive salt may cause high BP for a
person. Development of the multiple sclerosis- It is said that the food which have excessive
sodium is the major risk factor in developing multiple sclerosis. Salt is also considered as
the major risk factor which contributing in this alignment.
 Heart disease- Any individual who consumes more that the recommended salt is more
likely to stay at the risk of pushing high blood pressure which ultimately affects the heart.
The diet which have high salt is considered as the one which doubles the risk of
developing the cardiovascular diseases (Koç and Baysal, 2020).
2.3 To investigate the ways in which awareness about consumption of salt in the diet of people
can be spread.
According to Erni Astutik (2020), it is important for the government and concerned
authorities or person to spread the awareness regarding the consumption of salt in their diet so

that they do not intake more then the recommended salt which may lead to severe health issues.
The awareness regarding salt consumption can be spread either by initiating the salt reduction
strategy programs or campaigns so that people can get to know about its harmful consequences.
The people who lives in urban coastal areas are at major risk as they consume more salty food
which may result in hypertensions. The awareness can also be made though the salt reduction
program where an action plan must be set up which have strong leadership skills and the
personnels must be appointed which can determine the source of salt and set the target and
according develop the strategy. The government must also prioritise their actions out of which
slat reduction must be one. Moreover appropriate guidelines must be released so that people
obliged to follow it and understand its importance (Pearce, 2017).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
It is a kind of specific technique or procedure which is used to select, process, identify
and analyse the information about the topic. In context to present research, there are two types of
research being used which are discussed below- Primary- It involves the process of gathering the first hand information directly from the
source. This research involves more cost and time but the information which is gathered
is authentic and relevant in order to achieve the aims and objectives appropriately. The
present research involves collecting the information through questionnaire from two
interviews.
 Secondary- This involves the process of gathering the already collected information
which is published by others. There is less time, cost and effort of the researcher involved
in this as it is already collected data. The current research involves books and journals to
collect the material (D'Aquin and et. al., 2020).
Quantitative and qualitative data collection Quantitative- This method deals with the statistics and numbers which allows the
researcher to test the hypothesis through systematic collection and analysis of the data.
 Qualitative- It deals with meanings and words where the researcher is allowed to explore
the experience and ideas in depth (Thompson Burdine, Thorne and Sandhu, 2021) ).
In present research, secondary and primary both research methods is being used which
involves quantitative data so that valid and relevant results can be drawn and the researcher can
achieve the aims and objectives of the topic efficiently. The primary data is selected in order to

collect first hand information so that authentic findings can be drawn while secondary data will
give in depth clarity to the idea and information.
Sampling
It is taking a portion of the whole population in order to collect data (Belgrave and Seide,
2019). The present research have 20 respondents.
Questionnaire
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Q1. Do you crave salty products?
(A) Sometimes
(B) Always
(C)Never
(D) Not applicable
Q2. When buying salt do you choose a particular brand of salt?
(A)Sometimes
(B) Always
(C)Never
Q3. Are you aware of salt advisory quantity per day?
(A) Yes
(B) No
Q4. Can salt affect water retention in your body?
(A) Agree
(B) Disagree
(C)Don’t know
Q5. Can salt affect your blood pressure?
(A) Agree

(B) Disagree
(C)Don’t know
Q6. Do you add more salt to ready made meals?
(A)Yes
(B) No
(C)N/A
Q7. Can salt affect your health ?
(A) Agree
(B) Disagree
Q8. Are you able to recognise when your body is having to much salt?
(A) Yes
(B) No
Q9. Have you been told about the daily advisory salt intake?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C)N/A
RESULTS
Theme 1: Crave for salt.
Q1. Do you crave salty products? FREQEUENCY
(A) Sometimes 5
(B) Always 5
(C)Never 8

(D) Not applicable 2
Interpretation: It is analysed from above graph that out of 20 respondents, 25% respondents are
in favour that they crave for salt sometimes and 25% crave always while 40% believe that they
never crave for salt and 10% do not know the answer of it.
THEME 2: Choose a brand when choosing salt.
Q2. When buying salt do you choose a particular brand of salt? FREQUENCY
(A)Sometimes 10
(B) Always 10
(C)Never 0
5
5
8
2
(A) Sometimes
(B) Always
(C)Never
(D) Not applicable

Interpretation: It is analysed from above that out of 20 respondents, 50% respondents believe
that they always check the brand when purchasing salt and 50% sometimes check and none of
them never checks the brand.
THEME 3: aware about salt advisory quantity.
Q3. Are you aware of salt advisory quantity per day? FREQUENCY
(A) Yes 10
(B) N 10
10 10 (A) Yes
(B) No
10 10
(A)Sometimes
(B) Always
(C)Never

Interpretation: It is evaluated from above data that 50% respondents out of 20 are aware of the
salt advisory quantity while 50% are not aware of it.
THEME 4: affect of salt on water retention.
Q4. Can salt affect water retention in your body? FREQUENCY
(A) Agree 10
(B) Disagree 5
(C)Don’t know 5
Interpretation: it is analysed from above questionnaire that 50% respondent know that salt
affect the water retention in body while 25% disagree with this and other 25% does not know
about this.
THEME 5: affect of salt on blood pressure
Q5. Can salt affect your blood pressure? FREQUENCY
(A) Agree 15
(B) Disagree 5
10
5
5
(A) Agree
(B) Disagree
(C)Don’t know

(C)Don’t know 0
Interpretation: It is evaluated from above graph that out of 20 respondents, 75% believe that
they know that salt affect the blood pressure while remaining 25% believe that salt does not
affects the blood pressure.
THEME 6: add more salt to ready meals.
Q6. Do you add more salt to ready made meals? FREQUENCY
(A)Yes 10
(B) No 10
(C)N/A 0
15
5
(A) Agree
(B) Disagree
(C)Don’t know

Interpretation: It is evaluated from above questionnaire that out of 20 respondents, 50% are in
favour that they add salt to ready meals while 50% do not believe in adding salt to ready meals.
THEME 7: affect of salt on health.
Q7. Can salt affect your health ? FREQUENCY
(A) Agree 15
(B) Disagree 5
10 10
(A)Yes
(B) No
(C)N/A