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Salt is an essential mineral to our health that, in its sodium form, is involved in many functional processes in human body. Excessive salt consumption increases the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) have identified salt reduction as one of the most cost-effective strategies to prevent the spread of non-communicable diseases. The objectives of the present study is to determine the salt status in the Moroccan population based on 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 133 children and adolescents recruited from public schools in Rabat regions. The average total salt intake status was assessed by 24 h dietary recall. Food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate children’s nutritional habits and the consumption of food rich in salt. The average total salt intake is 5264.5±2398.6mg/day. The knowledge of the study population on the health risks of excess salt, 81% of participants stated that high salt consumption is positively associated with health risks, while only 7% confirmed that there is no relationship between excess salt and health problems. For the use of iodized salt, about half (46.6%) of the study population uses iodized salt. For each variable, a significant difference is shown between the subgroups (p

Historically, mountainous areas of Morocco have been affected by endemic goiter and severe iodine deficiency. In 1995, Morocco legislated salt iodization to reduce iodine deficiency. There has been no national survey of iodine nutrition in school-age children for nearly 3 decades. Our aim was to assess iodine nutrition in a national sample of 6–12-year-old children in Morocco to inform the national salt iodization strategy. In this cross-sectional household-based survey, we randomly recruited healthy 6–12-year-old children from 180 clusters in four geographic zones (north and east, central, north and south) covering the 12 regions of Morocco. A questionnaire was completed, including socio-economic status and parental level of education. In addition, anthropometric measurements were taken to assess nutrition status, and a spot urine sample was collected to measure urinary iodine concentration (UIC). A total of 3118 households were surveyed, and 1043 eligible children were recruited, 56% from urban areas and 44% from rural areas. At the national level, the percentage of surveyed samples with UIC < 50 µg/L was 21.6% (19.2%; 24.2%), which exceeds the WHO suggestion of no more than 20% of samples below 50 µg/L, despite an adequate level of median urinary iodine concentration (mUIC) at 117.4 µg/L (110.2; 123.3). There were no statistically significant differences in mUIC comparing urban vs. rural areas and socio-economic status. However, the mUIC was significantly lower in the central (high-altitude non-coastal) zone (p < 0.004), where the mUIC (95% CI) was deficient at 89.2 µg/L (80.8; 102.9). There was also a significant difference in the mUIC by head of household education level (p = 0.008). The mUIC in Moroccan children >100 µg/L indicates iodine sufficiency at the national level. However, the percentage of surveyed samples with UIC < 50 µg/L above suggests that a significant proportion of children remain at risk for iodine deficiency, and it appears those at greatest risk are residing in the central (high altitude non-coastal) zone. A national level mUIC value may conceal discrepancies in iodine intake among different sub-groups, including those defined by geographic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: Estimating body composition using bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) requires specific prediction equations. The purpose of our study was to examine the validity of published BIA equations for assessing total body water (TBW) and fat-free mass (FFM) using deuterium oxide dilution (D2O) as a reference method and to develop new FFM and TBW BIA equations if needed for Moroccan pre-pubertal children.Subjects/methods: Data were collected from 247 schoolchildren aged 8-11 years old. Children were sorted by gender and age group and assigned in development and validation groups. D2O dilution was used as reference method for estimating TBW and FFM. Bland and Altman test, effect size, pure error, and proportional bias were used to assess the reliability of previous published equations. Cross-validation was performed by Bland and Altman test and BIA new equations were developed by linear regression.Results: Previously published equations were tested and showed significant bias values indicating that if used they would provide biased values of TBW and FFM. The new prediction equations developed were: [Formula: see text] (l) = 0.269 + 0.292 Ht2/R (cm2/Ω) + 0.221 weight (kg) + 0.824 sex (boys = 1, girls = 0) + 0.291 age (years) (R2 = 0.91, RMSE = 1.54 kg); [Formula: see text] (kg) = -0.450 + 0.380 Ht2/R (cm2/Ω) + 0.291 weight (kg) + 1.294 sex (boys = 1, girls = 0) + 0.446 age (years) (R2 = 0.91, RMSE = 1.97 kg). These equations provide better values of proportional bias, agreement, and pure error than the other tested equations.Conclusions: The new BIA prediction equations seem to be the most accurate for Moroccan pre-pubertal children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]