Assessment of Iodine Levels of Secondary Schools Girls in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Urinary iodine excretion is a good marker of dietary iodine intake and is the index for evaluating the degree of iodine deficiency, correction and toxicity. Studies on urinary iodine excretion level in school girls of Sokoto State are scanty. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to determine current iodine status in 246 school girls in three zones of Sokoto State, Nigeria aged 14 17 years. Urinary iodine level was measured using the standard method of ammonium persulphate reaction. Thyroid Stimulating Hormones (TSH), Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were measured using Competitive Enzyme linked Immunoassay. Validated questionnaires were used to test the knowledge of iodine nutrition among the respondents. World Health Organization and International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders recommendations were used to classify the urinary iodine levels. The results show that of the 246 school girls studied, 49 (20%) had mild iodine deficiency 37 (15%) had moderate iodine deficiency, 156 (63%) had adequate status and 5 (2%) had above normal urinary iodine excretion level. These findings suggest that 86 (35%) of the study subjects were iodine deficient. Measures should therefore, be taken to improve iodine nutrition in the study area to avoid functional and developmental abnormalities.