Saving Lives, One Bindi at a Time: Combating Iodine Deficiency in Rural India

Problem: According to a study by the Indian Journal of Medical Research, 350 million Indians don’t get enough iodine. Iodine, most often associated with salt intake and also found in seafood, is a vital nutrient; without it, people suffer from goiter, hyperthyroidism, stunted growth, or intellectual disabilities—all preventable diseases. Specifically in women, a lack of iodine can cause breast cancer, pregnancy complications, and hypothyroidism, which can cause impaired ovulation. 

But iodine isn’t easy for some Indian populations to get. Remote mountainous regions often have iodine-poor soil and seafood consumption is looked down upon in many communities. This combination of factors means that rural women, in particular, are at risk of suffering from iodine deficiency.

Solution: Bindis are small dot stickers worn between a woman’s eyebrows to signify beauty and marriage. The practice began in the third and fourth centuries to represent the third eye. Today, the bindi is commonly adorned among all women, not just those who are married. 

In 2015, Grey Advertising teamed up with Talwar, a prominent bindi distributor, and Neelvasant, an Indian-based NGO doing extensive work in rural areas of the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Grey worked with Talwar to infuse 150-200 micrograms of iodine in its bindi’s adhesive. Throughout the day, a woman wearing the iodine bindi absorbs, on average, 12% of their daily iodine requirement, a marked improvement from before if worn for five to eight hours a day. Through the NGO, 30 bindis a month are distributed to women in need for free. 

Impact To Date: The iodine bindi helps over 100,000 tribal women in North-West Maharashtra battling iodine deficiency. 

Why is this Innovative? 

The Life Saving Dot uses the same technology and design as nicotine patches; its production costs are minimal, and the price is affordable at just two rupees per pack. (The rural Maharashtrian women Grey for Good worked with earned an average of 20-30 rupees daily.) 

And what’s even better is that wearing the iodine-infused bindi requires no behavioral change. Supplements in the form of pills were available, but women weren’t getting or taking them.

A side benefit is that many women report fewer headaches due to the increased amount of iodine in their system. 

What needs to improve?  

The biggest problem is that bindis are not worn by men or people from outside the Hindu religion.