RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Developing a policy to reduce the salt content of food consumed outside the home in Malaysia: protocol of a qualitative study
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e044628
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044628
VO 11
IS 7
A1 Mhairi Karen Brown
A1 Suzana Shahar
A1 Yee Xing You
A1 Viola Michael
A1 Hazreen Abdul Majid
A1 Zahara Abdul Manaf
A1 Hasnah Haron
A1 Noor Shahida Sukiman
A1 Yook Chin Chia
A1 Feng J He
A1 Graham A MacGregor
YR 2021
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/7/e044628.abstract
AB Introduction Current salt intake in Malaysia is high. The existing national salt reduction policy has faced slow progress and does not yet include measures to address the out of home sector. Dishes consumed in the out of home sector are a known leading contributor to daily salt intake. This study aims to develop a salt reduction strategy, tailored to the out of home sector in Malaysia.Methods and analysis This study is a qualitative analysis of stakeholder views towards salt reduction. Participants will be recruited from five zones of Malaysia (Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern regions and East Malaysia), including policy-makers, non-governmental organisations, food industries, school canteen operators, street food vendors and consumers, to participate in focus group discussions or in-depth interviews. Interviews will be transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Barriers will be identified and used to develop a tailored salt reduction strategy.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been obtained from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Research Ethics Committee (UKM PPI/1118/JEP-2020–524), the Malaysian National Medical Research Ethics Committee (NMRR-20-1387-55481 (IIR)) and Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee (QMERC2020/37) . Results will be presented orally and in report form and made available to the relevant ministries for example, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Trade to encourage adoption of strategy as policy. The findings of this study will be disseminated through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications and webinars.