Resumen de Estudio de la ingesta de yodo en los niños de 6 meses a 3 años de edad de Guipúzcoa

José Arena Ansótegui, José Ignacio Emparanza

• Objective To assess whether iodine deficiency exists in healthy children aged 6 months to 3 years by measuring urinary iodine.

  Design A descriptive, cross-sectional study using purposeful sampling of children who attended 10 Primary Health Care centres in Guipúzcoa for routine health examinations.

  Subjects A total of 130 healthy children aged between 6 and 36 months, of whom 61 (46.9%) were girls and 69 (53.1%) boys.

  Measurements Age in months, origin, sex, nutritional survey (particularly intake of iodised salt, sea fish and dairy products) and urinary iodine excretion in a random urine sample.

  Results The median urinary iodine was 127µg/L. About one third (36.9%) of children had a urinary iodine below 100µg/L. No relationship was found between urinary iodine and nutritional survey variables.

  Conclusion Iodine intake in the children studied is adequate according to WHO recommendations