Iodine
Nutritional Status of School Children in a Rural Area of Howrah
District in the Gangetic West Bengal
Amar
K. Chandra*, Smritiratan Tripathy, Dishari Lahari
and
Sanjukta Mukhopadhyay
Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology Laboratory,Department of
Physiology,
University College of Science and Technology, University of
Calcutta
92,
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road,
Kolkata
– 700 009
( Received on June 23, 2003 )
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Abstract : The objective of the study
was to assess the status of iodine nutrition in an area of Howrah
district where iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) were reported
despite the introduction of iodised salt for general use. A total
of 969 school children in the age group 6–12 years of both sexes
were clinically examined for goitre. On the spot 242 urine samples
were collected from the children to study the iodine and
thiocyanate excretion pattern and 108 edible salt samples were
collected from the homes of the children to measure iodine level.
Drinking water samples were collected to evaluate the
bioavailability of iodine in the region. The total goitre
prevalence was 37.6% (Grade 1: 32.6%; Grade 2: 4.9%). The median
urinary iodine level was 35 µg/dL, 12.5% urine samples had iodine
level below 10 µg/dL and no sample was found to contain iodine
below 5 µg/dL. In 51.9% salt samples iodine level was below 15 ppm
and the iodine level in the drinking water was about 82 µg/L. The
people of the area consume foods from the vegetables of the
Brassica family and mean thiocyanate level was 0.747 ± 0.21
mg/dL. The findings of the present study indicated that as per
clinical criteria of WHO/UNICEF/ICCIDD, IDD is a severe public
health problem though apparently there is no biochemical iodine
deficiency. Overall results indicate that factors other than
iodine deficiency may have a role in the persistence of endemic
goitre in the post salt-iodisation in this region.
Key words :
endemic goitre
IDD
school children
urinary iodine urinary thiocyanate
goitrogens
