In Nutrition Month, DOH bats for iodized salt

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit urged consumers yesterday to use iodized salt to make it more available in the market.

Dayrit said the brain and nervous system needs iodine, a mineral and component of the thyroid hormones, to develop and function normally.

Dayrit told The STAR yesterday studies show that household consumption of iodized salt has "remained low" despite the general population’s awareness of its importance.

"The low demand and supply of iodized salt is a vicious cycle that needs to be solved simultaneously to make universal salt iodization a reality," he said.

Dayrit said the government has been calling on people to use iodized salt for more than five years, since the Department of Health had adopted the policy.

Dayrit said the law requires manufacturers, traders and retailers to make and sell only iodized salt as the country has the technology to produce it.

Dayrit called on city and municipal councils to pass ordinances that would strictly enforce the provisions of the law requiring that only iodized salt be manufactured and distributed nationwide.

"A person needs 150 micrograms (or equivalent to a size of a pinhead) of iodine everyday," he said. "Aside from iodized salt, foods such as fish, shellfish, seaweeds are also good sources of iodine."

Dayrit said Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) occur when the body’s iodine supply is insufficient and hampers the production of thyroid hormones.

"The most visible manifestation of iodine deficiency is goiter or the enlargement of the thyroid gland located at the base of the neck," he said. "This, however, is only one of the visible effects."

Dayrit said IDD can lead to serious and irreversible damages in the brain and nervous system during the development of the fetus, and that low iodine intake may also lead to reduced mental development like low IQ.

"Children who are considered iodine deficient are difficult to educate," he said. "The 1998 Food and Nutrition Research Institute survey revealed that 36 percent of children aged six to 12 have moderate to severe iodine deficiency."

IDD may also result to cretinism or physical deformities, slow growth, inactivity or fatigue, muscular disorders, paralysis, speech impairment and deaf-mutism, he added.

In celebrating Nutrition Month this July, the health department will focus on promoting the importance of food fortification as the "most cost effective and sustainable" intervention against micronutrient malnutrition.

This year’s theme: Wastong Nutrisyon: Alamin, Gawin at Palaganapin. – Ella Oducayen