The purpose of the thesis was to prepare a Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and by obtained results determine what are the portion sizes and what is the frequency of food consumption among students (n = 69). The main goal was to calculate the average daily salt intake among students from these data using conversion factors. The average daily intake was found to be well above the recommended one of 5 g per day, with students consuming an average of 11,8 g of salt per day, which is 136 % more than recommended. We also found that reformulated foods or foods with less salt are rarely eaten by students. 42,3 % of women and 35,3 % of men never use them. In the estimated portion sizes, we found that women were more likely to consume larger portions than standard ones of salty snacks (44,2 %), salads (51,9 %) and hard cheeses (55,8 %). Men consume larger portions than standard for meat and meat products (58,8 %), bread (58,8 %) and eggs (52,9 %). The results showed that lightly less than one half of women (42,3 %) and most men (82,4 %) do not avoid salt in their diet. One third of women stated that they avoid salt in their diet because of a better lifestyle (32,7 %) and 23,1 % because they do not like salty foods. The students rated the estimated household salt consumption as just right, and it also turned out that few of them were familiar with the recommended daily salt intake (19 women and 4 men). We conclude that larger portions, foods that contain more salt, and salting up the food at the table contribute to a higher daily intake.
|