Abstract
BackgroundGoiter remains one of the major public health problems particularly among young children in economically disadvantaged countries like Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of goiter and its associated factors among children aged 6–12 years in Chole district, Arsi Zone, Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsA school based cross-sectional study was conducted in February, 2017 among 422 primary school children in Chole district, eastern Ethiopia. The schools and study subjects were randomly selected. A structured, pretested and interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect the required data. It was conducted after getting due consents from the school administration and assent from caregiver/parent. Spot testing kits were used to estimate the level of iodine in salts. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations for chi-square test, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to show the magnitude of goiter and its associated factors. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were computed to determine the presence and strengths of associations.ResultsFrom the 422 study participants, 407 (96.4%) completed the questionnaire. Of these 205(50.3%) were female. The mean age of participant school children was 9.87(SD ± 1.6) years. The prevalence of goiter among study subjects was 36.6% (95% CI, 31.6–40.8%). History of goiter in the family (AOR = 6.80; 95% CI: 3.34–13.84), cabbage consumption (AOR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.38–4.60) and living with family in a single room (AOR = 2.30; 95% CI: 1.13–4.67) were positively associated with the development of goiter among primary school children in Chole district, eastern Ethiopia. But consuming milk (AOR =0.37; 95% CI: 0.23–0.59) was found to be negatively associated or protective against the development of goiter among the study subjects.ConclusionsIodine deficiency was found to be significant public health problem in the study area. Consuming milk was found to be protective, whereas consuming goitrogenic foods like cabbage were found to be the risk factors for the development of goiter among school -aged children. Thus, ensuring the consumption of iodized salt and promoting iodine rich food items among the community in Chole district and other similar settings in Ethiopia are strongly recommended.
Highlights
Goiter remains one of the major public health problems among young children in economically disadvantaged countries like Ethiopia
Two billion people are at risk of Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) due to insufficient intake of iodine and about 266 million school-aged children are at risk of insufficient iodine intake related health problems [3]
Dietary factors associated with goiter among school children Goitrogens foods were frequently eaten by children
Summary
Goiter remains one of the major public health problems among young children in economically disadvantaged countries like Ethiopia. Goiter remains as one of the major health problems among the young children and pregnant women worldwide [1]. Goiter is one of the most pathological manifestations of long term depletion of iodine storage in human body especially among children living in iodine deficient areas [4]. It is caused mainly by inadequate intake of iodine containing foods and high consumption of goitrogenic foods such as cabbage, maize, sweet potato and millet. Insufficient production of thyroid hormone in the body is a risk factor for goiter formation, besides inadequate iodine intake [1]
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