ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo evaluate the iodine nutritional status of university students in Tianjin and analyze influencing factors affecting urinary iodine levels.MethodsStudents of Tianjin Medical University,Tianjin Nankai University,Tianjin University of Finance and Economics and Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected as survey subjects,and 50 - 100 morning urinary samples were collected from each university,respectively.Urinary iodine was measured by arsenic-cerium catalytic spectrophotometry.The students were surveyed with questionnaires,which included family information,age, sex, specialty, iodine nutrition knowledge,source of drinking water,smoking or not and dietary habits.ResultsA total of 269 urine samples were collected,and the median urinary iodine was 213.68 μg/L.Urinary iodine levels(263.86 μg/L) of medical students was significantly higher than that( 168.01 μg/L,x2 =12.144,P ＜ 0.01 ) of non-medical students.There was an increasing trend of the level of urinary iodine of students with iodine nutrition knowledge scores ＞ 5 points (223.70 μg/L) over that of ≤5 points( 185.56 μg/L),but the difference was not significantly different statistically (x2 =2.297,P ＞ 0.05).Different gender and water sources had no significant effect on urinary iodine level(x2 =0.002,0.687,respectively,all P ＞ 0.05).Smokers urinary iodine levels( 154.55 μg/L) decreased compared with non-smokers(215.38 μg/L),but the difference was not statistically significant (x2 =0.515,P＞ 0.05).Vegetarian urinary iodine levels were lower than that of non-vegetarians,but the difference was not statistically significant(x2 =0.594,P ＞ 0.05).ConclusionsIodine nutritional status of students in university of Tianjin are generally at an appropriate level,but professional knowledge,habits and other factors may affect the intake of iodine,so students should develop good dietary habits to ensure a normal iodine nutrition status.