Assessment of iodine deficiency disorders using the 30 cluster approach in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
OBJECTIVE
Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) are a major public health problem in India. The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi is a known iodine deficiency endemic area. The Delhi Government banned the sale of non-iodised salt since 1989. The present study was conducted to assess the status of IDD after 7 years of salt iodisation programme in the state.


METHODS
Cross sectional.


METHODS
The recent indicators recommended by the World Health Organization-United Nations Childrens Fund-International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (WHO-UNICEF-ICCIDD) were utilized for the assessment of IDD. A total of 30 clusters were selected using population proportionate to size cluster sampling procedure. In each identified cluster, one primary school was selected using random sampling. A total of 6911 school children in the age group of 8-10 years were included for the study.


RESULTS
The total goiter prevalence rate was 8.6% while 2.1, 8.4, 17.6 and 71.9% of the children had urinary iodine excretion levels of < 2, 2-4.9, 5-9.9 and 10 and above mcg/dl, respectively. The median urinary iodine excretion was 17 mcg/dl. Of the 1854 salt samples analyzed, salt with a nil iodine content was consumed only by 1.4% of the beneficiaries. Forty one per cent of families consumed salt with an iodine content of less than 15 ppm.


CONCLUSIONS
IDD continues to be a public-health problem in the NCT of Delhi. There is a need of strengthening the existing monitoring system for the quality of iodised salt.
Kapil
U
U
Department of Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi.
Saxena
N
N
Ramachandran
S
S
Balamurugan
A
A
Nayar
D
D
Prakash
S
S
D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007455:Iodine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D018401:Sample Size; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000032:analysis; D014944:World Health Organization
D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D007455:Iodine