1. Kotchen , TA , Cowley , AW Jr & Frohlich , ED ( 2013 ) Salt in health and disease – a delicate balance . N Engl J Med 368 , 1229 – 1237 .

2. He , FJ & MacGregor , GA ( 2006 ) Importance of salt in determining blood pressure in children: meta-analysis of controlled trials . Hypertension 48 , 861 – 869 .

3. Ma , Y , He , FJ & MacGregor , GA ( 2015 ) High salt intake: independent risk factor for obesity? Hypertension 66 , 843 – 849 .

4. Grimes , CA , Riddell , LJ , Campbell , KJ , et al . ( 2016 ) 24-h urinary sodium excretion is associated with obesity in a cross-sectional sample of Australian schoolchildren . Br J Nutr 115 , 1071 – 1079 .

5. Brown , IJ , Tzoulaki , I , Candeias , V , et al . ( 2009 ) Salt intakes around the world: implications for public health . Int J Epidemiol 38 , 791 – 813 .

6. Weaver , CM ( 2013 ) Potassium and health . Adv Nutr 4 , 368S – 377S .

7. Baudrand , R , Campino , C , Carvajal , CA , et al . ( 2014 ) High sodium intake is associated with increased glucocorticoid production, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome . Clin Endocrinol 80 , 677 – 684 .

8. Folkow , B ( 1997 ) Physiological aspects of the “defence” and “defeat” reactions . Acta Physiol Scand Suppl 640 , 34 – 37 .

9. Tomlinson , JW & Stewart , PM ( 2001 ) Cortisol metabolism and the role of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase . Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 15 , 61 – 78 .

10. Chrousos , GP ( 2009 ) Stress and disorders of the stress system . Nat Rev Endocrinol 5 , 374 – 381 .

11. Jackson , SE , Kirschbaum , C & Steptoe , A ( 2017 ) Hair cortisol and adiposity in a population-based sample of 2,527 men and women aged 54 to 87 years . Obesity 25 , 539 – 544 .

12. Heffelfinger , AK & Newcomer , JW ( 2001 ) Glucocorticoid effects on memory function over the human life span . Dev Psychopathol 13 , 491 – 513 .

13. Stetler , C & Miller , GE ( 2011 ) Depression and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal activation: a quantitative summary of four decades of research . Psychosom Med 73 , 114 – 126 .

14. Papafotiou , C , Christaki , E , van den Akker , EL , et al . ( 2017 ) Hair cortisol concentrations exhibit a positive association with salivary cortisol profiles and are increased in obese prepubertal girls . Stress 20 , 217 – 222 .

15. Wambach , G , Bleienheuft , C & Bonner , G ( 1986 ) Sodium loading raises urinary cortisol in man . J Endocrinol Invest 9 , 257 – 259 .

16. Litchfield , WR , Hunt , SC , Jeunemaitre , X , et al . ( 1998 ) Increased urinary free cortisol: a potential intermediate phenotype of essential hypertension . Hypertension 31 , 569 – 574 .

17. Lewicka , S , Nowicki , M & Vecsei , P ( 1998 ) Effect of sodium restriction on urinary excretion of cortisol and its metabolites in humans . Steroids 63 , 401 – 405 .

18. Chamarthi , B , Kolatkar , NS , Hunt , SC , et al . ( 2007 ) Urinary free cortisol: an intermediate phenotype and a potential genetic marker for a salt-resistant subset of essential hypertension . J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92 , 1340 – 1346 .

19. Afsar , B & Ay , M ( 2014 ) The relationships between cortisol levels, insulin levels, and thyroid hormones with 24-h urinary sodium excretion in never treated essential hypertensive patients . ARYA Atheroscler 10 , 159 – 163 .

20. Grimes , CA , Riddell , LJ , Campbell , KJ , et al . ( 2017 ) Dietary intake and sources of sodium and potassium among Australian schoolchildren: results from the cross-sectional Salt and Other Nutrients in Children (SONIC) study . BMJ Open 7 , e016639 .

21. Grimes , CA , Baxter , JR , Campbell , KJ , et al . ( 2015 ) Cross-sectional study of 24-hour urinary electrolyte excretion and associated health outcomes in a convenience sample of australian primary schoolchildren: the Salt and Other Nutrients in Children (SONIC) study protocol . JMIR Res Protoc 4 , e7 .

22. Honour , JW ( 1997 ) Steroid profiling . Ann Clin Biochem 34 , 32 – 44 .

23. Jaffe , M ( 1886 ) Ueber den Niederschlag, welchen Pikrinsäure in normalem Harn erzeugt und über eine neue Reaction des Kreatinins (About the precipitate, which picric acid produced in normal urine and a new reaction of creatinine) . Z Physiol Chem 10 , 391 – 400 .

24. Bates , CJ , Thurnham , DI , Bingham , SA , et al . ( 1997 ) Biochemical markers of nutrient intake . In Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology , 2nd ed. , pp. 170 – 240 [BM Margetts and M Nelson, editors]. Oxford : Oxford University Press Inc .

25. World Health Organization ( 2010 ) Strategies to Monitor and Evaluate Population Sodium Consumption and Sources of Sodium in the Diet . Geneva : World Health Organization .

26. Cole , TJ , Flegal , KM , Nicholls , D , et al . ( 2007 ) Body mass index cut offs to define thinness in children and adolescents: international survey . BMJ 335 , 194 .

27. Cole , TJ , Bellizzi , MC , Flegal , KM , et al . ( 2000 ) Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey . BMJ 320 , 1240 – 1243 .

28. Department of Health and Ageing, National Health and Medical Research Council ( 2006 ) Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. Including Recommended Dietary Intakes . Canberra : Commonwealth of Australia .

29. Reinehr , T , Kulle , A , Wolters , B , et al . ( 2014 ) Relationships between 24-hour urinary free cortisol concentrations and metabolic syndrome in obese children . J Clin Endocrinol Metab 99 , 2391 – 2399 .

30. Shi , L , Berkemeyer , S , Buyken , AE , et al . ( 2010 ) Glucocorticoids and body fat associated with renal uric acid and oxalate, but not calcium excretion, in healthy children . Metabolism 59 , 134 – 139 .

31. Stalder , T , Steudte-Schmiedgen , S , Alexander , N , et al . ( 2017 ) Stress-related and basic determinants of hair cortisol in humans: a meta-analysis . Psychoneuroendocrinology 77 , 261 – 274 .

32. Usukura , M , Zhu , A , Yoneda , T , et al . ( 2009 ) Effects of a high-salt diet on adipocyte glucocorticoid receptor and 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 in salt-sensitive hypertensive rats . Steroids 74 , 978 – 982 .

33. Hermans , JJ , Fischer , MA , Schiffers , PM , et al . ( 1999 ) High dietary potassium chloride intake augments rat renal mineralocorticoid receptor selectivity via 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase . Biochim Biophys Acta 1472 , 537 – 549 .

34. Thompson , A , Bailey , MA , Michael , AE , et al . ( 2000 ) Effects of changes in dietary intake of sodium and potassium and of metabolic acidosis on 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities in rat kidney . Exp Nephrol 8 , 44 – 51 .

35. Pappachan , JM , Hariman , C , Edavalath , M , et al . ( 2017 ) Cushing’s syndrome: a practical approach to diagnosis and differential diagnoses . J Clin Pathol 70 , 350 – 359 .

36. Tarullo , AR , St John , AM & Meyer , JS ( 2017 ) Chronic stress in the mother–infant dyad: maternal hair cortisol, infant salivary cortisol and interactional synchrony . Infant Behav Dev 47 , 92 – 102 .

37. Olstad , DL , Ball , K , Wright , C , et al . ( 2016 ) Hair cortisol levels, perceived stress and body mass index in women and children living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods: the READI study . Stress 19 , 158 – 167 .