Objectives: To assess the current iodine status among school children in Terai region of Nepal.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 2012 among the school children aged 6-12y in three Terai districts (Siraha, Saptari and Jhapa) of eastern Nepal. A total of 1105 casual urine samples were collected from children of different schools of above districts. Urinary iodine excretion was estimated using ammonium persulphate digestion method.
Results: The median urinary iodine excretion in school children was 226.33μg/L (234.16μg/L, 229.25μg/L and 210.67μg/L in Siraha, Saptari and Jhapa districts respectively). About 12.7% (n = 140) children were found to be iodine deficient and 34.2% (n = 378) children had excessive iodine nutrition.
Conclusions: There was good improvement in iodine nutrition among children in Terai region, with a large part of population showing excessive iodine nutrition.
Keywords: Iodine deficiency; Nepal; School children; Terai; Urinary iodine excretion.