6.6 lakh Tamil Nadu children low on iodine

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu, the country's third biggest producer of salt, is ironically the state with abysmally low iodine intake.

More than 59 per cent of the state's population does not consume the prescribed minimum quantity of iodised salt, the biggest indicator of iodine intake, as per the National Family Health Survey III.

More than 6.6 lakh children born every year are unprotected from brain damage in the state, as their mothers don't consume sufficient iodised salt, it was revealed at a workshop for Sustained Iodine Intake in Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

"Iodine deficiency has serious consequences on new borns, ranging from birth defects, defects of speech and hearing, and mental retardation for which the singlebiggest cause is iodine deficiency," said Dr C S Pandav of the Delhibased AIIMS's Centre for Community Medicine.

Besides, Iodine Deficiency can also cause spontaneous abortions and still births, apart from causing a loss of 13 points in IQ, he told the delegates at the event, organised by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in coordination with the UNICEF.

Over 6.6 lakh children (59 per cent of the 11 lakh) born every year in the state are found susceptible to the dangers posed by inadequate iodine consumption of their mothers.

This figure could be much higher in reality, as 41 per cent of the state's population does not consume more than 150 mcg of iodine per day.