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Iodine nutrition and thyroid nodules among children and adolescents in a coastal area of China

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Abstract

Aim

This study aims to assess iodine nutritional status and investigate the prevalence of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents in Ningbo city, China.

Subject and methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Ningbo, China, in 2011. Salt iodine, urine iodine concentration (UIC) and thyroid nodules (by ultrasonography) were measured in 329 participants aged 6–17 years.

Results

The median UIC of all participants was 167.23 μg/L. No significant differences in UICs were observed between boys and girls (Z = −1.06, P = 0.29), children and adolescents (Z = −1.88, P = 0.06), iodized salt users and noniodized salt users (Z = −0.10, P = 0.92). A total of 114 nodules with maximum diameters between 1.5 and 12 mm were found among 51 (15.50 %) participants, the prevalence of thyroid nodules between children and adolescents has no significant difference (χ 2 = 0.29, P = 0.59), and there were no significant differences in age (t = 1.56, P = 0.12), gender (χ 2 = 0.13, P = 0.72), type of salt (χ 2 = 0.14, P = 0.71), family history of thyroid diseases (P = 0.46, Fisher’s exact test) and UICs (Z = −1.12, P = 0.26) between the participants with thyroid nodules and those without.

Conclusion

The iodine nutrition was adequate in children and adolescents in Ningbo city, but the prevalence of thyroid nodules among children and adolescents was high.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all field workers, computer assistants and laboratory technicians who helped with this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo, 315010, People’s Republic of China

    Xuefei Zhao, Hongjun Dong, Jienan Zhang, Yawei Sun, Manhong Yao, Guoliang Zhu & Guozhang Xu

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  1. Xuefei Zhao
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  2. Hongjun Dong
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  3. Jienan Zhang
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  4. Yawei Sun
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  5. Manhong Yao
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  6. Guoliang Zhu
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  7. Guozhang Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guozhang Xu.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, and all the participants signed informed consent forms.

Funding

This study was supported by the Program of Innovative Research Team of Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau (No. 2012B82018) and part by Key medical disciplines of Zhejiang province (No. 07-013).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Cite this article

Zhao, X., Dong, H., Zhang, J. et al. Iodine nutrition and thyroid nodules among children and adolescents in a coastal area of China. J Public Health 24, 231–236 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-016-0711-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-016-0711-1

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