High Salt Intake Unrelated to Obesity in Diabetes

Elevated sodium intake has been associated with hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and decreasing sodium intake may reduce blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), leading cause of death in the world. Recent data on sodium intake show that populations around the world are consuming much more sodium than is physiologically necessary. Studies in children have reported positive associations between sodium intake and adiposity. The aim of our study was to evaluate in a population of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus, possible correlations between the urinary sodium excretion (UNa24h), indirect marker of sodium intake, and both duration of diabetes and BMI z-score. Moreover we also evaluated the correlation between UNa24h and duration of diabetes according with the presence/absence of overweight/obesity.