Early childhood: Poor nutrition has a long-term impact upon children's development
“I am afraid for my sister and brothers, and myself. I want us to have opportunities, but if we get ill, I don’t know what will happen to us” says Dilnoza with her eyes brimming with tears. Dilnoza is a 14-year old school student at in Tashkent. She has a sister aged 16 and two younger brothers of 8 and 5 years old. She is a lively, animated girl, however, she suffers from goitre. For a long time, she did not even know about it, but it was detected 6 years ago in a routine examination by the doctor. When her mother heard this, she immediately started to find out what she could do about it. She was told that she must give her children iodized salt and has done so ever since. This is probably why Dilnoza’s 5 year old brother Akmal is the only one in her family, who does not suffer from goitre. Threat to mothers and children UNICEF and the Ministries of Public Education and Health have launched a campaign to address the problem of Iodine Deficiency Disease (IDD) in Uzbekistan. This disease is widespread and causes learning difficulties and delayed development in children or goitre, which can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth for pregnant women. The campaign provides health lessons and information to secondary schools, concerning, in particular, the consumption of iodized salt, which can prevent IDD. One important aspect of the campaign is the “National salt testing day” for grade 5-11 pupils in almost 10,000 schools in Uzbekistan. Dilnoza says “When I heard about the campaign at my school, I already knew that lack of iodine can cause goitre and that it could be prevented by using iodized salt. During the day, I found out that iodine is also very important for the development of the brain, and that pregnant mothers should use iodized salt to give their babies the brightest start in life.” On the day of testing, Dilnoza’s school was buzzing with activity. The classrooms and corridors were decorated with beautifully painted pictures, together with slogans and messages concerning healthy eating. All children brought salt samples from home. School campaign Dilnoza and her friends assembled in the central hall and watched a demonstration on how to test salt for iodine content, using test kits supplied by UNICEF. They would pour a drop of a chemical fluid on their salt sample and if it turned dark blue, the salt contained iodine. “I was very nervous when it came to my turn” said Dilnoza, “but when my salt turned blue I was very relieved. Although I read on the packet that the salt was iodized, I only believed it when I saw the result with my own eyes.” After the test there was a health lesson dedicated to the effects of iodine deficiency disorders and how only the use of iodized salt can prevent such problems. The teacher told them once again, how important iodine in iodized salt is for intelligence and development of a child’s brain and a mother’s health. In every school where the iodine test was performed, teachers recorded the number of participating pupils and the result of the test. The results were collected and compiled by the Ministry of Public Education. Almost 6 million children participated and results varied per oblast. In Tashkent city, 97% of the salt appeared to be iodized, whilst in Navoi oblast it was only 33%. Overall, results showed that 55% of salt samples were iodized. Compared with the results of the last official survey (MICS 2000), it was clear that a lot of progress had been made, as only 19% of households had previously used iodized salt. After the lesson Dilnoza wondered, why babies were still born with IDD and why people still suffered from goitre, when the solution was so simple: just use iodized salt. Surely everybody could understand that. Dilnoza says “What I would like most of all now, is to have an iodine test kit for myself, to make sure every time, that the salt my mother brings home is iodized. I want this because I want myself and my brothers and sister to be the brightest children in the world
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