Abstract:
The habitual diets in Sudan are rich in carbohydrates, poor in marine items that contain iodine,
and other micronutrients. There is spectrum of iodine deficiency severity nationwide, that affected
pregnant women reproductive health and hence may be reflected in their newborn physical
parameters. The study intended to examine the pregnant women perception and hence utilization
of food items containing iodine and its impact on physical neonatal parameters. The study was
descriptive cross-sectional hospital based, conducted in El-mek Nimir University Hospital in Shendi
Locality, River Nile State, Sudan, in the period from December 2016 to February 2017. Pregnant
women (n=130) in their last trimester, attending maternity unit were recruited as study
population, interviewing questionnaire exploring the sociodemographic, obstetric, dietary habits,
was filled. Neonatal weight, length, head circumference, weight of placenta were measured
immediately after delivery. Maternal serums T3, T4 were also measured. The findings of the study
revealed low perception of iodine importance for fetal development with (66%) of participants
considered it as unimportant and (13%) of them had grade (I) thyroid goiter. The arithmetic mean
of neonatal weight, length and head circumference at term were (3.1 kg), (45.6 cm), (34.3 cm)
respectively. The arithmetic mean for serum T3 is )1.33 ng/mL) which was skewed towards the
upper limit of normal range and )7.96 µg/dL) for T4 The study demonstrated the grave impaction of mild iodine deficiency on neonatal parameters with decreasing arithmetic mean of neonatal length of (45.57±3.92 cm) compared to the
international (90th Centiles) for neonatal length, at (37th weeks) of gestation, which was (50.14cm).
Key Words: Iodine, Iodized Salt, Thyroxin, Goiter, Brain development and Pregnancy.
