An assessment of Individual, community and state-level factors associated with inadequate iodised salt consumption among pregnant and lactating women in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract Background Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of thyroid disease, and in its severe form can result in cretinism; the impairment of the brain development of a child. Pregnant and breastfeeding women daily iodine requirement is elevated due to physiological changes in iodine metabolism, requiring up to double the iodine intake of other women. Despite the introduction of salt iodisation in many countries to control iodine deficiency disorders, adverse effects of inadequate iodine intake continue to be a problem.Methods This study utilised the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey to assess factors associated with inadequate iodised salt consumption among pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers in Nigeria. The descriptive analysis was presented using frequencies and percentages. The prevalence of adequate and inadequate iodised salt consumption with their 95% confidence interval were computed. Several multi-level mixed effect log-binomial logistic regressions was used to explore the factors associated with inadequate iodised salt consumption. The Loglikelihood, Akaike Information Criterion and Bayesian Information Criterion were used to assess the goodness of fit of the models. All analyses were adjusted for the complex survey design and analysed using Stata 15.0 at p < 0.05.Results Our findings revealed that pregnant and breastfeeding women living in most deprived communities, with no formal education, poor wealth status, and those residing in the North West and South West region were more likely to consume salt with inadequate iodine.Conclusions There is a need to enhance women’s economic opportunities and empowerment as well as sensitisation on their nutritional requirements during pregnancy and breastfeeding.