Development and evaluation of an educational program to promote the use of iodized salt in Guatemala
Umemoto, N.; Houston, R.; Solomons, N.M.ndoza, I.
Nutrition research 19(11): 1603-1612
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0271-5317 DOI: 10.1016/s0271-5317(99)00113-xDocument Number: 530890
Guatemala is known to be a country with iodine deficiency as surveys conducted in the 1950s indicate. Guatemalan law mandates obligatory iodization of salt for human consumption to levels of 30-100 ppm of iodine. Lack of quality assurance and the need for a multi sectoral approach in tackling iodine deficiency led to this study to evaluate a school-based approach to community education. In the hamlet of Vista Hermosa in the suburban county of San Pedro Sacatepequez, one of the two schools was designated control, the other experimental. A baseline 39.2% of households of 2nd and 5th graders in the control school and 29.7% in the experimental school had salt that was adequately iodized. One month later, after 4 educational sessions with recommendations to buy specific brands of iodized salt in the experimental school, the relative partition was 44.4% in the control (McNemar Chi-squared=0.66) and 75% in the experimental school (Chi-squared=22.67). In conclusion the school children appeared to be effective channels to transmit the message of iodine deficiency to their households. The positive results support the replication and expansion of a school-based educational approach in dealing with iodine deficiency as a public health problem. The findings suggest that school programs may be effective in generating awareness of iodine deficiency and in increasing demand for iodized salt.
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