Status of Iodine Content of Salt in Four Regions of India

Objective To study the Status of Iodine Content of Salt in four regions of India. Methods At each of the four centers (Vadodara, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur, New Delhi), High Schools were selected randomly from list of schools obtained from district education office and more than 700 salt samples were selected from each center. A total of 3,010 salt samples were collected from students of High Schools (consumed at their households), selected randomly from four centers and iodine content of salt by Standard Iodometric Titration Method (IT) was estimated. Results Analysis revealed that majority of salt sample collected at 4 centers were of powdered variety of salt. Analysis of iodine content in salt by IT method revealed that high proportion of school children (51.6%) consumed salt having inadequate iodine content (salt samples with less than 15 ppm of iodine) in Jodhpur district followed by Vadodara (19.8%), New Delhi (8.5%) and least in Dibrugarh (1.2%). The percentage of consumption of adequately iodized salt was highest in Dibrugarh (98.8%) among the four regions of India. Conclusions Status of iodine content is varying from state to state i.e. highest at Dibrugarh and lowest at Jodhpur. This indicates that consumption of iodized salt in Jodhpur is low and needs more attention. Government may adopt different strategies in different states. There is a strong need of iodization of salt in addition to creating awareness among rural inhabitants for consumption of iodized salt especially in Jodhpur District. More attention is required for monitoring quality of iodized salt available in the community.