Assessment of Urinary Iodine Status of Primary School Children in Saki, in South Western Nigeria

Urinary iodine excretion is a good marker of the dietary intake of iodine and is the index for evaluating the degree of iodine deficiency, correction and toxicity. Previous studies on urinary iodine excretion measured in school children in Saki showed that iodine deficiency was still endemic. The current iodine status in the area has not been evaluated, thus this study. Random urinary iodine was determined in 280 primary school children in Saki. The ages of the subjects ranged from 8-12 years with a mean of 9.23±1.28 years. Urinary iodine level was measured using the standard method of ammonium persulphate reaction. Classifying the urinary iodine level obtained based on World Health Organization (WHO), United Nation’s International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) recommendation, results showed that of the 280 primary schoolchildren studied, 0.7% (2) had sever iodine deficiency, 3.2% (9) had moderate iodine deficiency, 5% (14) had mild iodine deficiency, 41.1%(115) fell into the sufficient group and 50%(140) had excess , with urinary iodine level greater than 300μg/L These findings suggest that iodine nutrition has greatly improved in Saki, nevertheless, current efforts should be targeted towards sustaining the achievements thereby preventing over iodization of the population.