Using government schools to monitor iodine content of salt at household level in Delhi.

ABSTRACT

The Government had banned the sale of un-iodized salt in Delhi in 1989 as a step towards elimination of iodine deficiency disorders. The present study was done to detect the presence of iodine in salt samples every month from households of the students of government middle schools in Delhi using spot testing kits. One section each, from the classes six to eight of the thirty selected middle schools was chosen randomly. The children were asked to bring salt from their homes on a prefixed day. The salt samples were examined for the presence of iodine by a spot testing kit. This was repeated every month during the study (August '94 to February '95) among the same students in each school. A total of 16,596 salt samples were collected. Of this 12,736 (76.7%) tested positive for iodine and the rest (23.3%) of the salt samples did not contain iodine. The proportion of children who brought the salt samples varied between 53% to 72% in different months. As the study progressed, the trend showed more samples being tested positive for iodine. The differences in districts were not significant. Un-iodized salt thus still continues to be available in the households of the government school children of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The use of rapid testing kits in schools is a practical and feasible way to enhance the monitoring activities of the government.