Studies conducted in our community so far have failed to show a direct relationship between

dietary salt intake and arterial stiffness. It is possible that this relationship is masked because of

the high prevalence of obesity in our study population. We recruited 547 men and women of

African ancestry from the south western township of Johannesburg South Africa. We took

anthropometric measurements, measured conventional blood pressure, 24-h ambulatory blood

pressure and collected 24-hour urine samples on all the participants. After correcting for

covariates, there was a significant relationship between pulse wave velocity and 24-hour urinary

sodium excretion in people with normal BMI but no relationship was found in the overweight

and obese group. We concluded that dietary salt intake is associated with arterial stiffness

however this relationship is masked because of the high prevalence of obesity in this population.