Analysis of iodine nutritional level of children and pregnant women in non-iodine excess areas in Hebei Province / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To master the iodine nutritional level of children aged 8-10 and pregnant women in non-iodine excess areas in Hebei Province, and provide scientific basis and targeted prevention and treatment strategies for prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders.Methods:Iodine nutrition analysis was conducted in 162 counties (cities and districts, hereinafter referred to as counties) of Hebei Province in 2018. Each monitoring county was divided into 5 sampling areas according to east, west, south, north and middle locations. One township/street was randomly selected in each area, 1 primary school was selected in each township/street, and 40 non-boarding students aged 8-10 were selected from each primary school. In each monitoring county, 20 pregnant women were selected from each of the 5 townships/streets. Both children and pregnant women were collected samples for salt and urinary iodine (with a random urine sample) detection. The iodine content of salt was tested using the "General Test Method for Salt Industry-Determination of Iodine" (GB/T 13025.7-2012), and Sichuan salt and other fortified edible salt used the arbitration method. The urinary iodine content was tested using the "Arsenic-Cerium Catalytic Spectrophotometric Determination of Iodine in Urine" (WS/T 107-2006).Results:A total of 31 883 samples of edible salt were collected from children's homes in 162 counties, among which 28 539 were iodized salt, 26 456 were qualified iodized salt, the iodized salt coverage rate was 88.36% (after population standardization), and the qualified iodized salt consumption rate was 81.03% (after population standardization). A total of 31 883 urine samples were collected from children, with the median urinary iodine of 193.13 μg/L. There was one county with a median urinary iodine < 100 μg/L, and the median urinary iodine in 150 counties was 100-299 μg/L. A total of 15 572 salt samples of pregnant women were collected, among which the iodized salt samples were 14 260, the qualified iodized salt samples were 13 363, the iodized salt coverage rate was 90.10% (after population standardization), and the qualified iodized salt consumption rate was 83.54% (after population standardization). A total of 15 569 pregnant women were collected urine samples, the median urinary iodine was 164.86 μg/L, and the number of counties with a median urinary iodine < 150 μg/L was 67.Conclusions:Iodine nutrition of children and pregnant women is appropriate at the provincial level, but children and pregnant women in some counties are at risk of iodine deficiency. In the future, the prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders should focus on the iodine nutrition monitoring of the special needs.