Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Iodine Nutrition among Pregnant Women in the Bongo District, Ghana.

Background: Iodine is a trace mineral that plays a key role in producing thyroid hormones, which are key modulators of growth, neurological development, and metabolism. Notwithstanding the extensive global initiatives aimed at preventing and controlling iodine deficiency, it remains a widespread public health concern, particularly among pregnant women in many low-resource settings. Understanding the iodine-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of pregnant women is crucial to the formation of targeted interventions Methods: a cross-sectional design was used to evaluate the iodine-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of pregnant women attending prenatal health care services at different health facilities in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana. Socio-demographic data, KAP data, and data on the frequency of consumption of dietary iodine were collected using a questionnaire. Results: iodine-related knowledge was generally poor (96%), with only 2.57% and 1.43% showing moderate and good knowledge, respectively. Attitude towards iodine was generally fair, with 67.71% of respondents showing neutral attitudes, while 28.29% showed a bad attitude, with only 4% exhibiting a good attitude towards iodine nutrition. No single respondent demonstrated good iodine dietary practice, with 99.43% having bad iodine dietary practices. Iodized salt consumption was also low, with 77.14% reported never having used it for food preparation, while 17.43% reported daily usage. Bouillon cube consumption was strikingly high, with 78.00% reporting daily usage in food preparation Conclusion: generally , there was poor iodine knowledge, a neutral/fair attitude, and poor iodine-related practices among the pregnant women. There was also poor consumption of iodine-rich foods among respondents.