[Chronic malnutrition among children under five years of age in the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire]. / Malnutrition chronique chez les enfants de moins de 5 ans au nord de la Côte d'Ivoire.

The malnutrition of children under five years of age constitutes a major public health problem in most developing countries. A cross-section study was carried in 2003 in the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire to determine the prevalence of chronic malnutrition and to identify risk factors among children under five years of age living in urban and rural areas of the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire. A total of 292 and 268 children under five years of age residing respectively in urban and rural areas were included in the study. Their median age was 24 months. Chronic malnutrition was more frequent in children from rural areas (39.9%) than in those living in urban areas (16.7%). Malnutrition was significantly associated with the type of food consumed by children under two years of age in urban areas, and it was strongly linked to emaciation of the mother and presence of childhood fever in rural areas. In light of these results, we advocate a healthy diet and adequate health status for the mother and child to improve the nutritional status of children. Moreover, these results need to be completed and complemented by further studies for more detailed information to contribute to a better definition of actions to fight efficiently against malnutrition among children of the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire.

[Assessment of iodine content of dietary salt in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)]. / Evaluation de la teneur en iode du sel alimentaire à Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire).

Côte d'Ivoire is one of the countries engaged in the strategy of universal salt iodization set up to prevent and control iodine deficiency disorders. However, no systematic monitoring of iodine content of salt has been performed up to now. Therefore, a survey was conducted on a random sample of 400 households in the Marcory district of Abidjan in order to study consumers' behaviour regarding the purchase and storage of salt, and to determine the iodine content of dietary salt. The proportioning of iodine was carried out by the titrimetric method. The salt consumed in the homes was bought at the market, the shop, the supermarket or was delivered at residence by a hawker in the proportions of 82.8%, 10.3%, 6.3%, and 0.8%, respectively. At the warehouse, the salt purchased was packaged into bags of 25 kg for 0.5% of homes. 1% of homes bought salt in tins. 9.5% of homes bought their salt in sachets. Most homes (89%) replenished their stock in bulk from the market. Laboratory analyses showed that all salt samples were iodised. The average content of iodine in salt was 52.74 ppm with a standard deviation of 32.56. We observed that in 23.3% of households the iodine content of salt was weak (< 30 ppm). Contents higher than the upper limit of normality (30-50 ppm) were found in 44.8% of cases. The level of iodine was adequate for 32% of households. The major risk to which the population is exposed is the outbreak of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism (IIH) despite the fact that the Abidjan area is not naturally deprived of iodine. The risk is even more significant in the goitre endemic zone of the western and northern areas of the country, because these regions receive the same salt as Abidjan. From this arises the need for setting up an effective system of controlling the iodine content in dietary salt to continuously adjust it, taking into consideration the minimum needs of the population.