2.1. Study Design

This survey was a collaborative initiative between the Nauru Ministry of Health, Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. Ethical approval was granted by the Nauru Non-communicable Disease Steering Committee, Nauru Ministry of Health (20150917). This research was designed as a school-based survey to collect nationally representative data of iodine status in Nauru. All three primary schools (Yaren Primary School, Nauru Primary School, and Kayser College, Figure 1) in Nauru with students aged 6–12 years participated in the study. Participating students were randomly selected by the Statistics Division of the Ministry of Education, Nauru, to represent their age, gender, and region of residence. Students were asked to provide a random spot urine sample and fill out a short Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Informed consent was signed by one of the parents of the enrolled school children. A total of 242 students (126 males, 116 females) aged 6–12 years successfully participated in this study. To determine the source of iodine nutrition, water samples from different regions were collected and analyzed. The iodine content in salt products in Nauru was also measured.

Map of Nauru with the location of the three primary schools.