Iodine intake among pregnant mothers residing in hilly terrains of two districts of Himachal Pradesh, India

Background: Under programmatic settings, routine monitoring and evaluation of household consumption of iodized salt are recommended to track the reach of universal salt iodization strategy. The program needs evaluation in different settings and locations. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess urine-based estimation for recent iodine intake among pregnant women living in hilly terrains of two districts of northern state of India. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional observational study was conducted during September– December 2019 among 202 randomly selected pregnant women in two districts of Himachal Pradesh. With a predesigned schedule, data regarding sociodemographic and behavioral factors and salt consumption were collected by interview. Iodine level of salt was assessed by spot iodine testing kit and urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was measured using ammonium persulfate digestion using spectrophotometer. Results: Women had a mean age of about 26 years, and the period of gestation was of mean 163.7 days. The consumption of iodized salt (>15 ppm) at family level was found to be 83.7%, and the median UIC was 169.0 μg/L. Among assessed, 26.7% had an acceptable level of UIC, whereas 41.1% and 32.2% of women had less (250 μg/L) level of UIC, respectively. Conclusion: Recent iodine intake among pregnant women was observed to be adequate, but efforts are to be done to assess the reasons for less and excessive UIC among women