OBJECTIVE: To assess the iodine status among primary school children of Dhankuta and Dharan in eastern Nepal. METHODS: A population based cross sectional study was conducted on schools of Dhankuta and Dharan from January-March 2008. 385 samples of both urine and salt were collected from school children aged 6-11 yrs. Urinary iodine excretion (UIE) was measured in casual urine samples by the ammonium-persulphate digestion microplate (APDM) method and salt iodine content by using a semi quantitative rapid test kit. RESULTS: The median UIEs of school children of Dhankuta and Dharan were 157.1 mug/L and 180.3 mug/L respectively. The percentage of iodine deficient (UIE <100 mug/L) children were 26.6% in Dhankuta and 15.6% in Dharan. The majority of children consumed packet salt. The percentages of salt samples with adequately iodized salt (>/= 15 ppm) were 81.3% in Dhankuta and 89.6% in Dharan. CONCLUSIONS: Eastern Nepal is continuously progressing towards the sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency disease as illustrated by a normal median UIE and the majority of households consuming adequately iodized packet salt. It is necessary to maintain the program continuously to ensure adequate iodine nutrition of the population.
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