Explain the iodine deficiency disorders and the measures for their prevention and control.
How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.
1 · Open in two lines. Iodine deficiency disorders are all the harmful effects of too little iodine on growth and development, from goitre to cretinism (Hetzel, 1983).
2 · Causes.
Soil and water poor in iodine (Himalayan and flood belts).
Goitrogens: cabbage, cauliflower, cassava.
Higher needs in pregnancy and lactation.
3 · Draw the IDD spectrum table. [Table: fetus, newborn, child and adolescent, adult, with the disorders of each]
4 · Indicators. Total goitre rate of 5% or more in school children; population median urinary iodine below 100 µg/L.
5 · Prevention.
Universal salt iodisation: 30 ppm at production, 15 ppm at the consumer.
Ban on non-iodised salt for direct human use.
Monitoring with salt-testing kits, urinary iodine and goitre surveys.
Education: buy packed iodised salt and store it covered.
6 · The programme. NGCP 1962, renamed NIDDCP 1992; Global IDD Prevention Day on 21 October.
7 · In the community. Testing household salt with kits on home visits and teaching families to buy iodised salt.
8 · Close in one line. A pinch of iodised salt a day protects the brain of the next generation.
Scoring tip: Draw the life-stage table, then give both ppm figures and both programme years.
