Iodine deficiency in school going children of Pondicherry.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the status of iodine deficiency in Pondicherry by finding out the urinary excretion of iodine and the prevalence of goiter among school children. METHODS: 315 children between the age group of 9-13 yr from 30 schools in Pondicherry were examined for the presence of goiter and their urine samples were subjected to biochemical analysis to find out the urinary iodine levels (UIE). RESULTS: The percentage of children who had inadequate iodine intake and showed urinary iodine level of less than 100 mcg/ L was 44.4%. Amongst them, 14.3% had a greater degree of iodine deficiency with less than 50 mcg/L of iodine in urine. The prevalence of goiter was 15.24%. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of goiter is high. The iodine intake is quite low as exhibited by the UIE levels of < 100mcg/L in the children in Pondicherry, which might have had an unseen impact on the intelligence and school performance of these children.