Abstract

TARQUI-MAMANI, Carolina; ALVAREZ-DONGO, Doris  and  FERNANDEZ-TINCO, Inés. Ioduria and iodine concentration in table salt in peruvian elementary school children. Rev. perú. med. exp. salud publica [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.4, pp.689-694. ISSN 1726-4634.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2016.334.2552.

Objectives. To determine the ioduria and iodine concentration in table salt in Peruvian elementary schoolchildren. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed. A total of 8,023 elementary schoolchildren, who voluntarily participated, were included. Multistage stratified probability sampling was performed, and the sample was obtained by systematic selection. Ioduria was determined via spectrophotometry (Sandell-Kolthoff method), and the amount of iodine in salt was evaluated volumetrically. The data were processed by means of analysis for complex samples with a weighting factor. Medians, percentiles, and confidence intervals were calculated, and the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were used, where appropriate. Results. Nationwide, the median ioduria in schoolchildren was 258.53 ug/L, being higher in boys (265.90 ug/L) than in girls (250.77 ug/L). The median ioduria in urban areas was higher (289.89 ug/L) than that in rural areas (199.67 ug/L), while it was 315.48 ug/L in private schools and 241.56 ug/L in public schools (p<0.001). The median iodine concentration in table salt was 28.69 mg/kg. Of the total salt samples, 23.1% contained less than 15 mg/kg of iodine. Conclusions. The median ioduria in elementary schoolchildren exceeded normal levels, according to the criteria of the World Health Organization, with differences between urban and rural areas and public and private schools.

Keywords : Iodine; Iodine deficiency; Nutritional surveys; Epidemiology; School Health.

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