ABSTRACT
Iodine deficiency was a public health problem in Iran before the start of iodine supplementation program in 1989. This study has been conducted in the framework of the national monitoring survey in 2001 to find the prevalence of goiter and urinary iodine levels in order to evaluate the effect of national supplementation program on the iodine status of school-aged children in the city of Qom. In a descriptive, cross-sectional study, 1200 schoolchildren, aged 7-10 years, were selected randomly from all regions of Qom, and the grade of goiter was determined in 600 boys and 600 girls according to WHO classification. Urinary iodine content was estimated using the digestion method in one tenth of the schoolchildren. Goiter was observed in 26% of children [24.3% of girls and 27.7% of boys]. The average urinary iodine level was 15.2 micro g/dl. Urinary iodine levels higher than 10 micro g/dl was measured in 71.7% and less than 5 micro g/dl in 8.1% of children. Urinary iodine levels less than 2 micro g/dl has not been observed in any of the cases. No significant difference was observed in prevalence of goiter and the urinary iodine level between males and females, and students in living in urban or rural areas. Comparison of these results with those of the year 1996 shows that prevalence of goiter has significantly decreased in these students. Also, it shows that in the city of Qom, the urinary iodine levels of schoolchildren fall in the standard range determined by WHO. This indicates that the iodine intake is adequate in the province of Qom. Therefore, this province can be considered as an "iodine deficiency-free" zone