Current iodine nutrition status and awareness of iodine deficiency in tuguegarao, Philippines.
The Philippines is one of the countries where adequate iodine status has been achieved. However, iodine deficiency still remains an important public health problem in this country. In this study, we evaluated iodine nutrition status and investigated an awareness status of iodine deficiency targeting high school students of Tuguegarao, Philippines. A total of 260 students provided samples for urinary iodine analysis, among which 146 students completed thyroid volume measurement by ultrasonography and answering the questionnaires. The median urinary iodine level was 355.3 µg/L and only 3.8% of the students were in the range of iodine deficiency status according to the ICCIDD criteria. Although 62.3% of students answered that they can list problems resulting from iodine deficiency, a majority of students (70.5%) were unable to identify problems other than goiter. They did not appreciate that adequate iodine levels are important during pregnancy and for development of children. 33.6% of students answered that they did not use iodized salt and the biggest reason was that they did not find it necessary. Based on these results, we suggest that a future strategy should be focused on vulnerable groups to completely eliminate iodine deficiency, including women at their reproductive ages and during pregnancy.
Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, 262 Gamcheon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Bu Kyung
BK
Kim
Department of Biochemistry, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea ; Cancer Research Institute, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Jee-Yeong
0000-0001-9482-4526
JY
Jeong
Department of Microbiology, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Kwang-Hyuk
KH
Seok
Department of Microbiology, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea ; Institute for International Healthcare Cooperation, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Andrew S
AS
Lee
Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, 262 Gamcheon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea ; Institute for International Healthcare Cooperation, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Chul Ho
CH
Oak
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Ghi Chan
GC
Kim
Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
Chae-Kyeong
CK
Jeong
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Pusan National University, Busan 609-838, Republic of Korea.
Sung In
SI
Choi
Department of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, Cagayan State University, College of Medicine, 3500 Tuguegarao, Philippines.
Pablo M
PM
Afidchao
Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, 262 Gamcheon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 602-703, Republic of Korea.
Young Sik
YS
Choi