A Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on the usage of edible Salt among the Population in an urban Area Kumar A Revanth1,*, Sarathy N Partha2, Reddy B Chandrasekhar3, Ravikiran M.4 1Post Graduate Student, Department of Community Medicine, Alluri Sitarama Raju Academy of Medical Sciences (ASRAMS), Eluru 2Professor and HOD, Department of Community Medicine, Alluri Sitarama Raju Academy of Medical Sciences (ASRAMS), Eluru 3Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Mahavir institute of Medical Sciences, Vikarabad, TS 4Post Graduate Student, Department of Community Medicine, ASRAMS, Eluru *Corresponding Author: Dr. A. Revanth Kumar Post Graduate Student, Department of Community Medicine, ASRAMS, Eluru Mob: 8008586279 Email id: revanthkumar.dr@gmail.com
Online published on 5 May, 2018. Abstract background Iodine deficiency is a major nutritional problem in India. Fortification of edible salt with Iodine is a good strategy being implemented by the government to bring down the goitre prevalence. Type of edible salt used by people in different parts of the country varies considerably. Hence in this study an endeavor was made to know the usage pattern of edible salt and the awareness & usage of iodized salt among the resident population in the field practice area of the Urban Health Centre attached to a Medical College. Methods After obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethical Committee, a cross-sectional study of all the households was conducted in the field practice area of ASRAM Medical College, Eluru. The data was collected by using a predesigned, pretested & semi-structured questionnaire over a period of two months. Collected data was compiled in M.S. Excel 2013 and analyzed in PASW Version 23 (trial version). Results Study population consisted 2591 residents, 1300 (50.2p.c) males & 1291 (49.8p.c) females. In the study population, 89.7p.c respondents had the knowledge of Iodized salt, but only 20.4p.c were using it for cooking purpose and only 12.8p.c were consuming <5gram salt per day. Conclusion Knowledge of Iodized salt was relatively good but hardly 20p.c were using it for cooking purpose. There is an urgent need for behavior change communication in the community towards Iodized salt consumption. Top Keywords Edible Salt, Fortification, Goiter, Iodine deficiency. Top |