About 72 per cent households in Andhra Pradesh have adequate consumption of iodised salt, up from 64 per cent reported in 2019, a survey of state health and family welfare department and Nutrition International, an NGO, has found.
Iodine is a micronutrient required in very small quantities in daily diet, for optimal mental and physical development. Iodised salt is the primary source of iodine.
The survey, conducted from October 2020 to January 2021, indicated that the iodine nutrition status of school age children (6-12 years), taken as a proxy for the population, was adequate.
71.9 per cent of the households were consuming sufficient iodised salt or uppu as it is called in south India.
The prevalence of goitre was found to be 1.8 per cent amongst the school-aged children, an indicator for long-term deficiency of iodine in diet.
Goitre is a condition of neck swelling caused by thyroid gland enlargement due to iodine deficiency.
“With 71.9 per cent coverage, Andhra Pradesh is close to winning the battle against iodine Deficiency Disorders. Districts like Vizianagaram, Kurnool and Chittoor have reported a high coverage of 82.4 per cent, 78.5 per cent and 78.1 per cent respectively. But universal salt iodisation requires integrated efforts across the state and one of the efforts should be iodisation of locally produced salt consumed in the crystal form,” said Ranjan Kumar Jha, Senior Program Officer – USI and Food Fortification, India, Nutrition International.
“Goitre prevalence in the populations consuming crystal salt is 3.1 per cent against the state average of 1.8 per cent.”
Of late, there is an increased consumer preference for “traditional salt” under the impression that it contains multiple micronutrients and trace minerals and is beneficial for people with high blood pressure and other heart ailments. This is pushing the sale of organic salt / rock salt / Himalayan salt which is mostly non-iodised and makes the population vulnerable to iodine deficiency disorders, the Canada-based nutrition organisation stated.
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