Iodine nutritional status among pregnant women in Hangzhou after the adjustment of iodized salt

Objective To explore the impact of iodine nutrition on pregnant women after adjusting the iodine content in iodized salt in Hangzhou and provide a scientific basis for supplementation of iodine to pregnant women. Methods After adjusting the iodine content of salt from 2012 to 2014, proportional probability sampling method was used to select 300 families and 100 pregnant women from every county (area, city) of Hangzhou City, and the household salt and urine samples were collected to detect iodine. Results Totally 3 904, 3 900 and 3 900 samples of household salts were collected with the medians of salt iodine concentration of 23.77, 22.75 and 23.30 mg/kg of each year from 2012 to 2014, respectively. The qualified rate of iodized-salt was 95.87% (3 550/3 703), 97.04% (3 510/3 617) and 96.53% (3 564/3 692) and the consuming rate of qualified iodized salt was 90.92% (3 550/3 904), 90.01% (3 510/3 900) and 91.38% (3 564/3 900), respectively, from the year 2012 to 2014. Totally 1 300, 1 217 and 1 315 urine samples of pregnant women were collected and the median of urinary iodine (MUI) of each year from 2012 to 2014 was 119.90, 136.40 and 124.00 μg/L, respectively. Conclusion After adjusting the iodine content of salt in Hangzhou, the salt iodine consumption levels of pregnant women's family are stable, but the level of urinary iodine is low, which should be pay attention to. Key words: Pregnant women; Iodine; Salt; Urine