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Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia

Received: 9 April 2015     Accepted: 1 May 2015     Published: 12 May 2015
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Abstract

Background: There are many reasons for children to underperform at school such as nutritional status, socio-cultural environment and other environmental factors. Iodine deficiency disorder is the major cause of preventable brain damage in children resulting in academic underperformance. Although few studies have been conducted on goiter among primary school children in Ethiopia, the mountainous area like Goba town which experiences poor soil conservation over a long period of time and the leaching away of the iodine-rich soil, needs special concern. Objective: This study assessed the prevalence of goiter and its associated factors among school children in Goba town, southeastern Ethiopia. Methods: School based cross sectional study design was employed on study participants of 397 children in age groups of 6-12 years from four primary schools in Goba town with a 98.2% response rate. The study was conducted from April to May, 2012. A systematic sampling technique was applied to select children; Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic variables of children and their parents. Selected students were examined for the presence of goiter and classified based on WHO recommendation. Salt test for iodine content was done using field fast salt test kit. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done to see the effect of independent variables on the outcome variable (presence of goiter). Results: Out of 397 childern 209(52.6%) were females. The total goiter prevalence was 50.6 %{ 95% CI = (45.7, 55.6)} with grade 1 goiter having 33.5% {95% CI = (28.9, 38.4)} and grade 2 goiter having 17.1 %{ 95% CI = (13.6, 21.3)}. The goiter prevalence was found higher in females 112(53.6%) {95% CI = (46.6, 60.5)} than in males 89 (47.3%) {95 % CI = (40.0, 54.7)} though statistically insignificant in the studied school age children. The age of study subjects (AOR=1.86; 95% CI=1.10, 3.15) had significant association with goiter. With respect to salt consumption at home, for the study participants 110(27.7%) of children were given salt which had no iodine (0 ppm) and 169(42.6%) of them were given salt which contained medium level of salt (<15ppm) and the remaining 118(29.7%) were given sufficiently iodized salt. Conclusion: Prevalence of total goiter among school children is very high and it was higher in females than males. The salt test results showed that most households do not use sufficiently iodised salt.

Published in International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26
Page(s) 381-387
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Iodine, Goiter, Children, Iodized Salt

References
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[2] Souvik S. Prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders among schoolchildren in three blocks of Bardhhaman district and Bardhhaman municipal area of west Bengal, India, 2005.
[3] Iodine Deficiency Disorders and Intellectual Performance of School Children Aged 8 - 10 Years Old A Case Study in Malang District, East Java. 2005.
[4] WHO. Indictors for assessing iodine deficiency disorders and their control through salt iodization. Geneva1994 Contract No.: WHO/ NUT/94.6).
[5] Cherinet A YB, Girma A, Zewditu G, and Tesema E. Prevalence of goiter in children 6 to 12 years of age in Ethiopia. 2005 2-4.
[6] Minali S and Biswajit M. Iodine deficiency in school going children of Pondicherry. Indian j pediatre. 2007; 4(8):731-4.
[7] CSA. Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2011(2):201-8.
[8] Cherinet A KU. Determinants of iodine deficiency in school children in different regions of ethiopia. 2000:35-41.
[9] Negalign Berhanu KWM, Mesele Bezabih. Endemic goiter in School Children in Southwestern Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Dev2003; 18(3):177-9.
[10] Eskinder W. The effect of Iodine Deficiency Disorder on Academic performance of school children in Sodo town, Southern Ethiopia. 2011.
[11] Madhu B RM, Lakshminarayana J. Assessment of Iodine Deficiency Disorders in School Age Children in Jodhpur dictrict of Rajasthan, India, 2010.
[12] WHO. Assessment of iodine deficiency disorders and monitoring their elimination. 2007.
[13] Akhil Bandhu B IC, Dilip Kumar D, Srabani B, Saswati N, Jayasri M,. Iodine Deficiency Disorders among School Children of Malda, West Bengal, India. J HEALTH POPUL NUTR2002; 20(2):2-4.
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[16] Emel G OE, Günay C, Semra A, Șima G, Serdar C,. Prevalence and Risk Factors of Iodine Deficiency among Schoolchildren in Turkey. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics1999; 49(3).
[17] Latifeh A S, mousa I,. Prevalence of iodine deficiency among goiterous school children, Jordan. 2005.
[18] Khairya M. National Study On The Prevalence of Iodine Deficiency Disorders Among School Children Aged 8-12 years old in Bahrai. 2000.
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    Habtamu Demelash Enyew, Ketema Gashaw Zemedkun, Addisu Melese Dagnaw. (2015). Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 4(3), 381-387. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26

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    ACS Style

    Habtamu Demelash Enyew; Ketema Gashaw Zemedkun; Addisu Melese Dagnaw. Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2015, 4(3), 381-387. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26

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    AMA Style

    Habtamu Demelash Enyew, Ketema Gashaw Zemedkun, Addisu Melese Dagnaw. Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2015;4(3):381-387. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26,
      author = {Habtamu Demelash Enyew and Ketema Gashaw Zemedkun and Addisu Melese Dagnaw},
      title = {Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3},
      pages = {381-387},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20150403.26},
      abstract = {Background: There are many reasons for children to underperform at school such as nutritional status, socio-cultural environment and other environmental factors. Iodine deficiency disorder is the major cause of preventable brain damage in children resulting in academic underperformance. Although few studies have been conducted on goiter among primary school children in Ethiopia, the mountainous area like Goba town which experiences poor soil conservation over a long period of time and the leaching away of the iodine-rich soil, needs special concern. Objective: This study assessed the prevalence of goiter and its associated factors among school children in Goba town, southeastern Ethiopia. Methods: School based cross sectional study design was employed on study participants of 397 children in age groups of 6-12 years from four primary schools in Goba town with a 98.2% response rate. The study was conducted from April to May, 2012. A systematic sampling technique was applied to select children; Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic variables of children and their parents. Selected students were examined for the presence of goiter and classified based on WHO recommendation. Salt test for iodine content was done using field fast salt test kit. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done to see the effect of independent variables on the outcome variable (presence of goiter). Results: Out of 397 childern 209(52.6%) were females. The total goiter prevalence was 50.6 %{ 95% CI = (45.7, 55.6)} with grade 1 goiter having 33.5% {95% CI = (28.9, 38.4)} and grade 2 goiter having 17.1 %{ 95% CI = (13.6, 21.3)}. The goiter prevalence was found higher in females 112(53.6%) {95% CI = (46.6, 60.5)} than in males 89 (47.3%) {95 % CI = (40.0, 54.7)} though statistically insignificant in the studied school age children. The age of study subjects (AOR=1.86; 95% CI=1.10, 3.15) had significant association with goiter. With respect to salt consumption at home, for the study participants 110(27.7%) of children were given salt which had no iodine (0 ppm) and 169(42.6%) of them were given salt which contained medium level of salt (<15ppm) and the remaining 118(29.7%) were given sufficiently iodized salt. Conclusion: Prevalence of total goiter among school children is very high and it was higher in females than males. The salt test results showed that most households do not use sufficiently iodised salt.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence of Goiter and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years Old in Goba Town, South East, Ethiopia
    AU  - Habtamu Demelash Enyew
    AU  - Ketema Gashaw Zemedkun
    AU  - Addisu Melese Dagnaw
    Y1  - 2015/05/12
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26
    T2  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    SP  - 381
    EP  - 387
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2716
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.26
    AB  - Background: There are many reasons for children to underperform at school such as nutritional status, socio-cultural environment and other environmental factors. Iodine deficiency disorder is the major cause of preventable brain damage in children resulting in academic underperformance. Although few studies have been conducted on goiter among primary school children in Ethiopia, the mountainous area like Goba town which experiences poor soil conservation over a long period of time and the leaching away of the iodine-rich soil, needs special concern. Objective: This study assessed the prevalence of goiter and its associated factors among school children in Goba town, southeastern Ethiopia. Methods: School based cross sectional study design was employed on study participants of 397 children in age groups of 6-12 years from four primary schools in Goba town with a 98.2% response rate. The study was conducted from April to May, 2012. A systematic sampling technique was applied to select children; Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic variables of children and their parents. Selected students were examined for the presence of goiter and classified based on WHO recommendation. Salt test for iodine content was done using field fast salt test kit. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done to see the effect of independent variables on the outcome variable (presence of goiter). Results: Out of 397 childern 209(52.6%) were females. The total goiter prevalence was 50.6 %{ 95% CI = (45.7, 55.6)} with grade 1 goiter having 33.5% {95% CI = (28.9, 38.4)} and grade 2 goiter having 17.1 %{ 95% CI = (13.6, 21.3)}. The goiter prevalence was found higher in females 112(53.6%) {95% CI = (46.6, 60.5)} than in males 89 (47.3%) {95 % CI = (40.0, 54.7)} though statistically insignificant in the studied school age children. The age of study subjects (AOR=1.86; 95% CI=1.10, 3.15) had significant association with goiter. With respect to salt consumption at home, for the study participants 110(27.7%) of children were given salt which had no iodine (0 ppm) and 169(42.6%) of them were given salt which contained medium level of salt (<15ppm) and the remaining 118(29.7%) were given sufficiently iodized salt. Conclusion: Prevalence of total goiter among school children is very high and it was higher in females than males. The salt test results showed that most households do not use sufficiently iodised salt.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Madawalabu University, Bale Goba, Ethiopia

  • Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Madawalabu University, Bale Goba, Ethiopia

  • Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Science, Madawalabu University, Bale Goba, Ethiopia

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