Status of iodine nutrition among pregnant mothers in selected districts of Uttarakhand, India

BACKGROUND: Uttarakhand state is a known endemic area for iodine deficiency. OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the iodine nutritional status amongst pregnant mothers (PMs) in districts: Pauri (P), Nainital (N) and Udham Singh Nagar (USN) of Uttarakhand state. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty clusters from each district were selected by utilizing the population proportionate to size cluster sampling methodology. A total of 1727 PMs from P (481), N (614) and USN (632) were included. The clinical examination of the thyroid of each PM was conducted. Urine and salt samples were collected from a sub samples of PMs enlisted for thyroid clinical examination. RESULTS: The total Goiter rate was found to be 24.9 (P), 20.2 (N) and 16.1 (USN)%. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) levels were found to be 110 μg/L (P), 117.5 μg/L (N) and 124 μg/L (USN). The percentage of PMs consuming salt with iodine content of 15 ppm and more was found to be 57.9 (P), 67.0 (N) and 50.3 (USN). CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study revealed that the PMs in all three districts had low iodine nutritional status as revealed by UIC levels of less than 150 μg/L.