A survey of dietary iodine intake among residents in Fujian Province

Objective To survey the dietary iodine intake among residents in the coastal province of Fujian after universal salt iodization. Methods Using multi-stage stratified random sampling method, four different geographic areas of coastal cities, inland cities, coastal rural and inland rural areas were selected; 3 counties （cities, districts） were selected from each area; 30 families were selected from each of those counties （cities, districts）. Total dietary study method was applied to investigate the basic information, all food and water intake during the investigation, the spice variety, quantity and cooking methods, and recipes. All foods consumed were divided into 13 classes：grains and their products, beans（including nuts） and their products, potato and its products, meat and its products, eggs and their products, aquatic products, milk and dairy products, vegetables, fruits and their products, sugar and sugar products, beverage and water, alcohol and seaweeds. Food samples were collected and iodine contents of different types of food were measured, and daily food consumption of the reference man（adult male） in the four areas was calculated. Then the male adult dietary iodine intake in the four areas and Fujian Province was estimated. Results A total of 69 families（accounting for 19.2% of the 359 families surveyed） ate seaweed foods during the three days survey period. The average salt intakes per reference man were 4.5, 5.8, 7.5, 12.3 g, respectively, in coastal cities, inland cities, coastal rural and inland rural. The adult male dietary iodine intake in Fujian Province was 343.8μg/d, and the values were 234.4, 347.1, 328.4, 465.3μg/d, respectively, in coastal cities, coastal rural, inland cities and inland rural. If people did not eat seaweed foods, the results would be＆amp;nbsp;239.7, 137.5, 253.6, 200.3, 367.4μg/d. The main sources of dietary iodine intake were vegetables （33.2%）, seaweeds（30.3%）, meat（13.4%） and aquatic products（13.0%）. If people did not eat seaweed foods, the results would be vegetables（47.6%）, meat（19.1%） and aquatic products（18.7%）, and iodine contribution rate of the 3 types of food was 85.4%. Conclusions Under the conditions of eating iodized salt, male adult dietary iodine intake is appropriate in different areas of Fujian Province. There is no such problem as iodine excessive. Iodized salt is the main source of dietary iodine. Residents in coastal city, if not eating seaweed foods, will be at risk of iodine deficiency, even if they eat iodized salt. Key words: Diet; Iodine; Nutrition policy