Iodine nutrition in different populations in Xiuzhou district of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province

Objective To understand the iodine nutrition in different populations in Xiuzhou after the implementation of universal salt iodization (USI) measure. Methods Stratified cluster sampling questionnaire survey was conducted among pregnant women and lactating women in 300 families and salt iodine, water iodine and urine iodine were detected. Results The median of salt iodine was 29.37mg/kg. The iodized salt coverage was 99.67%; the median water iodine was 13.73 g/L; the median of urinary iodine in general population was 206.65 g/L; the median of urinary iodine in children aged 8-10 years was 304.50 g/L; the median of urinary iodine in pregnant women was 164.12 g/L and the median of urinary iodine in lactating women was 178.45 g/L. The medians of urinary iodine in general population, children aged 8-10 years, pregnant women and lactating women in Xiuzhou were all above 100 g/L, which had met the requirement of IDD elimination, but the urine iodine values in 40.63% of pregnant women and 18.75% of lactating women were still lower than the standard, and the urine iodine value in 3.57% of pregnant/lactating women was still lower than 50 g/L. Conclusion It is suggested to include the pregnant women, lactating women and young children aged 0-2 years into the routine surveillance of iodine nutrition.