title: Rural Latino caregivers' beliefs and behaviors around their children's salt consumption.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prevalence of high blood pressure has been increasing in U.S. children, with implications for long term health consequences. Sodium consumption, a modifiable risk factor for high blood pressure, is above recommended limits and increasing. Very little is known about Latino caregiver beliefs and behaviors around their children's salt consumption.
  
  
  METHODS
  In California's Central Valley, qualitative interviews in Spanish investigated low-income caregivers' views and understandings of their children's dietary salt consumption. Thirty individual interviews and 5 focus groups were conducted (N=61). Interview transcripts were translated and transcribed, coded and thematically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven primary topic areas around children's salt intake and its impact on health were identified: children's favorite foods, children's dietary salt sources, superiority of home-cooked foods, salty and sweet foods, managing salt for health, developing children's tastes, and adding salt added at the table. Parents recognize common sources of sodium such as "junk food" and processed food and made efforts to limit their children's consumption of these foods, but may overlook other significant sodium sources, particularly bread, cheese, prepared soups and sports drinks. Caregivers recognize excess salt as unhealthy for children, but don't believe health problems (like high blood pressure) can occur in young children. Nevertheless, they made efforts to limit how much salt their children consumed through a variety of strategies; school meals were a source of high sodium that they felt were outside of their control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Latino caregivers are concerned about their children's salt intake and attempt to limit consumption, but some common sources of sodium are under-recognized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences & Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO), University of California, San Francisco, Box 0850, 3333 California Street, Suite 485, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address: kristin.hoeft@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Kristin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hoeft
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anthropology, History & Social Medicine & Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences & Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO), University of California, San Francisco, Box 0128, 1450 3rd Street, Room HD556, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences & Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO), University of California, San Francisco, Box 0850, 3333 California Street, Suite 485, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: M Judy
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Vargas
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anthropology, History & Social Medicine and Preventive & Restorative Dental Sciences & Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO), University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 485, San Francisco, CA 94143-0850, USA.
authors.forename: Judith C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003132:Commerce; D003469:Culture; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology*; D057140:Fast Foods; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005523:Food Supply; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D011203:Poverty; D012424:Rural Population; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary
keywords: Child; Feeding practices; Hypertension; Latino; Parenting; Salt/Sodium