Iodine nutritional status of residents in Liaoning province

ObjectiveTo understand the iodine nutrition status of the residents in Liaoning province and to provide evidence for making strategies of control and prevention of iodine deficient disorders.MethodsThe iodine nutritional status was examiced among 8-10 years old children,18-50 years adults,pregnant and breastfeeding women randomly selected from 5 districts and 5 counties in 5 coastal cities and 3 counties away from coastline at least 100 km.Thirty households were selected from each sample area to determine individual salt consumption with 3 day weighting method.The urine samples were collected and detected among 50 children,30 adults,30 pregnant wow en,and 30 breastfeeding women selected in each district or county.The iodine contents in the drinking water from the study area were also determined.ResultsThe average daily salt intake was 9.3 grams in 390 households investigated.For the 389 salt samples,376 were iodized salt and 372 had qualified iodine content with a median of 30.5 mg/kg.The coverage rate of iodized salt for the households was 96.4% and that of qualified iodized salt was 95.4%.The median of urine iodine for 1 931 urine samples was 202.9μg/L and the ratio of below 50μg/L was 3.3%.The median of urine iodine for children,adult,pregnant women,and breastfeeding women was 213.9μg/L,228.1μg/L,188.6μg/L,and 180.7μg/L,respectively.The radio of the residents with average daily salt intake less than 6 grams was 27.2%.ConclusionThe residents should continue to consume iodized salt,but iodine content in iodized salt should be slightly reduced in order to eliminate iodine deficiency safely and effectively in Liaoning province.