An initiative to promote proper iodine intake
Tata Salt held an interactive session to emphasise on the importance of nutrition and iodine, a micronutrient for overall health and development of a mother and her child. Actor Soha Ali Khan along with Bruna Abdullah shared their experiences on motherhood. Also present at the event were Dr Ranjana Dhanu, consultant, gynecology and obstetrics, Hinduja hospital, Khar, and Indrayani Pawar, chief dietician. They addressed the to-be moms and mothers on the importance of iodine.
Deficiency of iodine can lead to a multitude of health disorders such as goitre, hypothyroidism, miscarriage, stillbirth, congenital anomalies, infant and neonatal mortality and impaired growth. Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation. Iodine deficiency causes irreparable damage to the developing brain and is especially damaging during the early stages of pregnancy and in early childhood. It can cause a vast spectrum of mental disorders and loss of intellectual capacity.
Salt is known to be an effective micronutrient carrier; therefore making iodised food grade salt as one of the easiest ways of supplementing one’s diet with this vital nutrient. The iodisation of salt is one of the best examples of publicprivate partnership. As a result of this initiative, 76.3% of Indian households are now consuming adequately iodised salt (as per India Iodine Survey 2018-19 by Nutrition International).
Commenting on this, Soha, said, “Being a mother for me means constantly worrying about holistic nutrition of my kids. While we tend to pay attention to the well-known nutrients such as calcium, iron, etc., iodine skips the list most often. One of the essential nutrients required for pregnant mothers is iodine as I remember being advised by my gynaecologist to monitor my iodine intake. Iodine is essential for healthy brain development of the foetus and young child.”
Speaking about the importance of iodine, Dr Ranjana, said, “Iodine is definitely an important micronutrient, which is often over looked by pregnant women. During pregnancy, while one may take care of their health, there are high chances that they might miss out on this important ingredient which is iodine. Since it is not stored in the body, it is important to replenish the body with adequate amount of iodine at regular intervals, especially during pregnancy.”
As a dietician’s recommendation, Indrayani, added, “A woman’s iodine requirement increases substantially during pregnancy to ensure adequate supply to the foetus. Lack of iodine intake may lead to initial signs of depression and other serious implications like miscarriage or neurological problems. Various food especially sea food, Greek yoghurt and adequately iodised table salt, etc. are rich in iodine and must be consumed by pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. The ideal consumption of iodine for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers should be around 200 micrograms per day.”
Sagar Boke, head of marketing, consumer products business, Tata Chemicals Ltd., further added, “We are committed towards catalysing the nation free of Iodine deficiency disorders, and making India healthy. Tata Salt played a key role in the iodisation movement in the country by launching India’s first branded iodised salt. Tata Salt’s genesis was in serving a national need, and we are proud that we continue to stay true to our motto of Desh ki Sehat, Desh ka Namak. Through our range of offerings, we continue our efforts towards providing health-enabled salts to combat micronutrient deficiencies.”
Tata Salt urges each and every mother to take a pledge and help spread awareness for this essential micronutrient iodine and not be #MissingI. Mothers can post a simple image on their social media displaying a big I. The caption needs to read,
“I = iodine. I pledge to ensure that I and my kids are not deprived of this essential micronutrient. Salt is the best source to get daily requirement of iodine. I am not #MissingI.”