Abstract

Background. Elementary school children are the vulnerable group of IDD andanemia coused by micronutrient deficiency. Iron deficiency affect iodine metabolismand potentially aggravate IDD impact. Some studies showed reciprocal influencebetween iodine deficiency anemia with iron. Given the high extent of IDD endemicareas and the prevalence of anemia in Indonesia, this study aimed to describe theproblem of anemia in primary school children. The study area were mountains areaswhich had IDD area history. Method.This was a cross-sectiona study in IDD endemicareas to 108 grade 4 and 5 Primary School childrens selected by simple randomsampling method. TSH examination was taken from random sub-sample as manyas 45 children, and the value of TSH divided into 3 groups. Results. Results showedthat 4.4% of respondents had high value of TSH while 36.6% on moderately highcategory. Urine iodine content is very varied contained 15.7% of subjects experiencingiodine deficiency, and on the other hand, 10.2% of respondents had a urinary iodine>300 ug / L, included in the category of Excess. Iodized salt consumption, at 40.8% ofrespondents who qualify. There were no significant association between hemoglobinlevels and high value of TSH (p> 0.05). However there were association betweenthe consumption of iodized salt and iodine content in urine (r = 0.11, p = 0.003).Conclusion. It can be conclude that the number of children suffered from anemiain endemic IDD area were quite high although there were no association betweenhemoglobin levels and levels of TSH respondents.Keywords: anemia, IDD, primary school children