{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T05:57:09Z","timestamp":1790575029197,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess salt-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among parents and caregivers in Saudi Arabia and examine associations between parental awareness and child-directed salt-reduction behaviors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This cross-sectional analysis included 655 parents or caregivers of children under 18\u202fyears of age from a broader online convenience sample surveyed between December 2022 and May 2023. A 37-item questionnaire adapted from established instruments and translated into Arabic using a forward-backward process assessed salt-related KAP. Analyses included descriptive statistics, exploratory chi-square tests with Cram\u00e9r\u2019s V, and multivariable binomial logistic regression. Benjamini\u2013Hochberg false-discovery-rate (FDR) correction was applied across the 16 primary KAP regression coefficients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among participants, 78.8% recognized excessive salt intake among Saudi adults, compared with 54.2% for Saudi children, and 95.7% recognized the general health risks of high salt intake. Most (89.5%) considered limiting their child\u2019s salt intake important, yet 82.6% reported adding salt to foods prepared for their children. After multivariable adjustment and FDR correction, support for more action to reduce salt in foods targeted at children was independently associated with not placing a salt shaker on the table at mealtimes (aOR\u202f=\u202f3.80, 95% CI 1.65\u20138.79, raw\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.002,\n                      <jats:italic>q<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.032); the wide confidence interval indicates limited precision. The inverse association between recognizing excessive salt intake among Saudi children and requesting meals prepared without salt when dining out (raw\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.035) did not remain significant after FDR correction (\n                      <jats:italic>q<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.280). Other adjusted associations were not significant, and unadjusted chi-square findings were considered exploratory.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Parents and caregivers in Saudi Arabia showed high general awareness of salt-related health risks but lower recognition of excessive salt intake among children. The findings also suggest a knowledge\u2013behavior gap, with frequent discretionary salt use despite favorable attitudes toward limiting children\u2019s salt intake. Adjusted analyses provided limited evidence of independent associations between parental KAP and selected behaviors, with only one association surviving FDR correction. These findings support culturally appropriate, structurally supportive sodium-reduction strategies for children and families in Saudi Arabia.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1894899","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T05:44:05Z","timestamp":1790574245000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Parental knowledge, attitudes, and discretionary practices regarding children\u2019s dietary salt intake in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Almoutaz","family":"Hashim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University of Jeddah","place":["Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Enad","family":"Alsolami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University of Jeddah","place":["Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sami","family":"Alobaidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University of Jeddah","place":["Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Guideline: Sodium Intake for Adults and children","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5079","DOI":"10.3390\/nu6115079","article-title":"Consumer knowledge, attitudes and salt-related behavior in the middle-east: the case of Lebanon","volume":"6","author":"Nasreddine","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1007\/s40124-021-00249-6","article-title":"Animal, human, and 23Na MRI imaging evidence for the negative impact of high dietary salt in children","volume":"9","author":"Filler","year":"2021","journal-title":"Curr Pediatr Rep"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.1159\/000499344","article-title":"Comparison of salt intake in children to that of their parents","volume":"142","author":"Cotter","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nephron"},{"key":"ref5","volume-title":"Reducing Sodium Intake to Control Blood Pressure in Children: Intervention","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1748-720X.2007.00111.x","article-title":"Parental influence on eating behavior: conception to adolescence","volume":"35","author":"Savage","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Law Med Ethics"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2669","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sjbs.2020.06.004","article-title":"Prevalence of salt rich fast food consumption: a focus on physical activity and incidence of hypertension among female students of Saudi Arabia","volume":"27","author":"Kazi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Saudi J Biol Sci"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.5001\/omj.2011.61","article-title":"Effect of mothers nutritional knowledge and attitudes on Omani children\u2019s dietary intake","volume":"26","author":"Al-Shookri","year":"2011","journal-title":"Oman Med J"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5749","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17165749","article-title":"Knowledge and practices related to salt intake among Saudi adults","volume":"17","author":"Hanbazaza","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2458-12-354","article-title":"Lifestyle factors associated with overweight and obesity among Saudi adolescents","volume":"12","author":"Al-Hazzaa","year":"2012","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1309","DOI":"10.1007\/s11739-026-04320-2","article-title":"Bridging knowledge gaps in salt consumption for public health action: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia","volume":"21","author":"Alobaidi","year":"2026","journal-title":"Intern Emerg Med"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"720","DOI":"10.3390\/nu10060720","article-title":"Knowledge and attitudes are related to selected salt-specific behaviours among Australian parents","volume":"10","author":"Khokhar","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e12234","DOI":"10.2196\/12234","article-title":"The digital education to limit salt in the home program improved salt-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in parents","volume":"21","author":"Khokhar","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0130247","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0130247","article-title":"Salt reduction initiatives around the world - 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