RESUMO
Aim: To measure urinary iodine excretion level and to assess the iodine level in salt sample. Study design: Cross-sectional study done in 30 randomly selected wards/villages of Dahod district. Materials and method: The IDD survey at the Dahod district was conducted by population proportionate to size (PPS) cluster sampling. A sample of 90 children (45 boys and 45 girls) of age group of 6-12 years from the school was taken. In each cluster, seven urine samples of boys and seven samples of girls were collected and sent to the public health laboratories. From each cluster, salt samples were collected from a minimum of 10 houses and tested with the use of spot salt testing kit for the presence of iodine. Results: The median urinary iodine level was 115 μg/dl. Age-wise distribution of urinary iodine showed that the proportion of children with urinary iodine excretion <100 μg/dl was lowest in the 6-year age group, whereas the highest proportion was in the 10-year age group. Out of 300 salt samples, 207 samples (69%) had >15 ppm (parts per million) iodine; four samples (1.3%) had <15 ppm iodine. This means that the use of iodized salt was 70.3%. Conclusion: The lowest urinary iodine excretion was seen in age group of six years whereas highest urinary iodine excretion was seen in age group of 10 years. In 69%, salt samples had >15 ppm iodine present and in 1.3%, samples had <15 ppm iodine present. Thirty percent of salt samples were noniodized.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) are one of the worldwide public health problems of today. IDDs are endemic in various districts of Gujarat. We undertook this survey in Panchmahal district of Gujarat to study the prevalence of goiter in a sample of school children, to asses the level of iodine in salt samples, and to determine median urinary iodine concentration in a sample of children. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 15,900 school-going children in the age group of 6-12 yr were studied from 10 talukas. A total of 15 clusters were selected by cluster sampling method. Goitre was assessed in the children and urine and salt samples were studied for iodine concentration. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of goitre was 20.5 per cent among the children examined. The median iodine concentration was 70 mg/l indicating mild iodine deficiency; also 61 per cent of the urine samples examined showed iodine insufficiency. Iodine content was found to be adequate in 54.3 per cent of salt samples. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our study showed that goitre is still an important public health problem in the district. This calls for identification of factors to strengthen NIDDCP and the need to reimpose ban on sale of non-iodized salt in Gujarat.