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I read the recent correspondence on this subject with interest and have
the following comments to offer:
1. It has been recommended for ensuring comparison
between different research surveys that children in the age group of 6
to 12 years should be included. If it is not feasible to exclude
children in the age group of 13-15 years due to operational reasons,
it is desirable that the data pertaining to children in 6-12 years
should be presented.
2. The population of Baroda is 30,89,610. A sample
size of 242 drawn by any sampling procedure will not provide
scientifically valid results. The screening of earlier studies
published in child population have never reported goiter prevalence of
100%. Infact, we do not have standard values of thyroid size volume
for the Indian population and hence any study reported on this aspect
has limited scientific validity.
3. It is now universally recommended that the
pattern of UIE excretion should be proved for assessing the status of
iodine nutriture. The percentage of subjects having UIE levels less
than 200 mcg/1 should be mentioned to provide a correct picture.
There are no universal guidelines for assessment of
iodine deficiency disorders in an area. It will be most appropriate that
the guidelines recommend by WHO/UNICEF/ICCIDD are followed by all the
investigators.
Umesh Kapil,
Additional Professor,
Department of Human Nutrition,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi 110 029, India.
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