The Philippines is one of the countries where adequate iodine status has been achieved. However, iodine deficiency still remains an important public health problem in this country. In this study, we evaluated iodine nutrition status and investigated an awareness status of iodine deficiency targeting high school students of Tuguegarao, Philippines. A total of 260 students provided samples for urinary iodine analysis, among which 146 students completed thyroid volume measurement by ultrasonography and answering the questionnaires. The median urinary iodine level was 355.3 µg/L and only 3.8% of the students were in the range of iodine deficiency status according to the ICCIDD criteria. Although 62.3% of students answered that they can list problems resulting from iodine deficiency, a majority of students (70.5%) were unable to identify problems other than goiter. They did not appreciate that adequate iodine levels are important during pregnancy and for development of children. 33.6% of students answered that they did not use iodized salt and the biggest reason was that they did not find it necessary. Based on these results, we suggest that a future strategy should be focused on vulnerable groups to completely eliminate iodine deficiency, including women at their reproductive ages and during pregnancy.
Objectives Iodine deficiency causes multiple health problems. Previously we reported that 96% of high school students in Tuguegarao, Philippines had adequate iodine levels. However, iodine deficiency-associated problems remain among adults in the Philippines. Therefore, we evaluated iodine nutritional status and goiter prevalence among adults, including pregnant women, in Tuguegarao, Philippines. Methods A total of 245 adults, including 31 pregnant women, provided samples for urinary iodine analysis, and all pregnant women completed a questionnaire about iodine deficiency. Results The median urinary iodine level was 164.0 ± 138.4 g/L; 38.4% of the participants were iodine deficient, according to the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) criteria. No severe iodine deficiency was observed. Among the 31 pregnant women, 24 (77.5%) fell into the iodine deficient category defined by a stricter World Health Organization (WHO) guideline, in which iodine deficiency is considered when urinary iodine levels are below 150 g/L. Almost half (42%) of the pregnant women were unaware of the harmful effects of iodine deficiency on the human body and their fetus. Conclusions Although iodine nutritional status in the Philippines has improved, iodine deficiency still exists among adults, especially among pregnant women. Therefore, our study strongly suggests that a better strategy should be established to monitor iodine nutritional status among adults continually, and to focus on populations susceptible to iodine deficiency, including pregnant women and women of reproductive age, to achieve the total elimination of iodine deficiency.
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