More than 80 per cent people in Karnataka do not consume appropriate amount of iodine primarily because of non-availability of iodised salt in the market. The situation is equally grim in the other three southern states as well. The warning has come from UNICEF that commissioned All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to evaluate the situation in the south.

The AIIMS study conducted in collaboration with the Salt Department of Rajasthan shows that only 20.8 per cent of salt in southern market has the required level of iodine as a result of which almost 80 per cent of population in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry consume non-iodised salt. The study states that the percentage of population consuming non-iodised salt in Karnataka was the highest at 84.2 per cent and the lowest was in Kerala at 56.3 per cent. The findings indicated that there is a need for strict enforcement of ban on the sale of non-iodised salt for edible purposes, according to Dr. Umesh Kapil, lead investigator, AIIMS.

"Anecdotal evidences show that the situation has further deteriorated after the Centre decided to lift the ban on the sale of non-iodised salt. Preliminary evidence from Delhi slums shown as increase Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD)," Dr. Kapil said. Infact, AIIMS and National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad are carrying out studies to find out the impact of ban on the sale of non-iodised salt.

In Karnataka, only 15.8 per cent of the population was consuming salt with stipulated level of iodine which is 15 parts per million and above. In Gulbarga, Tumkur, Bellary, Davangere, Hassan, Koppal, Haveri and Bijapur, more than 90 per cent of families use salt with iodine content less than 15 ppm, the study said.

In majority of these districts, more than 20 per cent population has less than stipulated iodine level in urine indicating serious iodine deficiency. On the contrary, in 1998-99 over 43 per cent population used to have stipulated level of iodine in their food whereas 32.4 per cent had almost half that of the stipulated level. Only 24.1 per cent consumed non-iodised salt at that time.

The scientists collected 403 samples from the traders. It was observed that only 36 per cent of the samples at village level and 44.6 per cent of samples at the district level have the required level iodine- absence of which can trigger a large number of diseases including low brain development among children.