The Study of Iodized Salt and Supplement Product Consumption Literacy and Urinary Iodine Levels among the Working-Age Population in Health Region 7

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to investigate health literacy regarding the consumption of salt and iodized products, consumption behavior related to iodized products, the quality of iodized salt for consumption, urinary iodine levels, and the relationships between health literacy about salt and iodized product consumption, consumption behavior of iodized products, and the quality of iodized edible salt with urinary iodine levels. Data were collected using questionnaires and data recording forms from working-age participants aged 15–59 years in Health Region 7, totaling 459 participants. The relationships among health literacy of salt and iodized product consumption, consumption behavior of iodized products, the quality of iodized edible salt, and urinary iodine levels were analyzed using the Chi-square test.

The results showed that the majority of participants were female (59.26%), with an average age of 45.83 years. Most had completed elementary education (31.37%), with farming as the predominant occupation (45.53%), and 41.18% had an average monthly income below 10,000 baht. Overall, participants had high levels of health literacy about salt and iodized product consumption in all aspects. In terms of behavior over the past seven days, 84.31% reported using iodized salt, 84.53% reported using iodized fish sauce, and 87.15% reported using iodized soy sauce/seasoning sauce. Regarding iodine-rich foods, 94.77% consumed sea fish, 93.90% consumed chicken/duck eggs, and 91.07% consumed instant noodles/instant congee during the previous seven days. Most of the iodized salt samples contained 20–40 ppm of iodine (44.66%). The median urinary iodine level among participants was 112.26 micrograms per liter. Which is within the standard criteria. Health literacy regarding salt and iodized product consumption was significantly associated with the urinary iodine levels of working-age individuals in Health Region 7 at the 0.05 level.