Dietary iodine intake and urinary iodine concentration during pregnancy in Chengdu, China

An adequate iodine status during pregnancy is very important for maternal and infant health. The aim of this study was to characterize the iodine nutritional status of healthy pregnant women in Chengdu by measuring urinary iodine (UI) and analyzing dietary iodine intake.

Pregnant women who underwent regular antenatal examinations were invited to participate in this study. Each woman underwent UI determination and urinary creatinine (Cr) measurement and recorded the details of her diet and salt intake at the beginning and end of one week.

In total, 139 healthy pregnant women underwent UI determination in this study; among them, 116 participants completed the diet survey. The median urine iodine/ creatinine (UI/Cr) of the 139 patients was 216 μg/g, and the median dietary iodine level of 104 patients who completed the 7-day dietary record was 230 μg/d. The dietary iodine sources of the pregnant women were mainly seafood (11%), iodized salt (51%), iodized multivitamins (17%) and daily food (21%).

We concluded that healthy pregnant women in Chengdu showed appropriate iodine nutritional status. The 7-day dietary record can be a nice way to evaluate dietary iodine nutritional status, and there is a strong correlation between dietary iodine intake and UI concentration.