Status of iodine nutrition among pregnant mothers in selected districts of Uttarakhand, India

• Published in: Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 106 - 109
• Main Authors: Kapil, Umesh, Sareen, Neha, Nambiar, Vanisha S, Khenduja, Preetika, Pande, Shubhra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2015; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Fetuses; Food and nutrition; Goiter; Health aspects; Iodine; iodine deficiency disorder; Iodine in the body; Nutrition; Original; pregnant mothers; Pregnant women; Public health; Quality control; Salt; salt iodisation; Sample size; Studies; urinary iodine concentration; Urine; India; iodine deficiency disorder; pregnant mothers; Goiter; urinary iodine concentration; salt iodisation
• ISSN: 2230-8210; 2230-9500
• DOI: 10.4103/2230-8210.131764

Uttarakhand state is a known endemic area for iodine deficiency. The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the iodine nutritional status amongst pregnant mothers (PMs) in districts: Pauri (P), Nainital (N) and Udham Singh Nagar (USN) of Uttarakhand state. Thirty clusters from each district were selected by utilizing the population proportionate to size cluster sampling methodology. A total of 1727 PMs from P (481), N (614) and USN (632) were included. The clinical examination of the thyroid of each PM was conducted. Urine and salt samples were collected from a sub samples of PMs enlisted for thyroid clinical examination. The total Goiter rate was found to be 24.9 (P), 20.2 (N) and 16.1 (USN)%. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) levels were found to be 110 μg/L (P), 117.5 μg/L (N) and 124 μg/L (USN). The percentage of PMs consuming salt with iodine content of 15 ppm and more was found to be 57.9 (P), 67.0 (N) and 50.3 (USN). The findings of the present study revealed that the PMs in all three districts had low iodine nutritional status as revealed by UIC levels of less than 150 μg/L.