Articles

• Low iodine intakes in weaning infants

  (Michael Zimmermann )

  In countries where iodized salt programs supply sufficient iodine to older children and pregnant women, weaning infants, particularly those not receiving iodine-containing infant foods, may be at risk of iodine deficiency. Because iodine deficiency (ID) during infancy may irreversibly impair develop-ment and increase mortality, control of ID in populations should emphasize this critical period. Infants are at high risk for ID because their requirements per kg body weight for iodine and thyroid hormone are much higher than at any other time in the life cycle ...
  

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• Satisfying Hidden Hunger: The Asian Development Bank fights IDD in Central Asia

  During the 1990s, the newly emerging countries of Central Asia, as well as neighboring Mongolia, faced a growing and urgent problem of disease caused by micronutrient deficiencies. In response, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to mount a regional food fortification initiative to reverse this spreading public health problem that was particularly affecting poor women and children and was costing the countries about 1% of their gross domestic product ...
  

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• Combating iodine deficiency in the Philippines through advocacy and partnership with the salt industry

  Advocacy for increasing iodine intakes in the Philippines. The Philippines has regulations calling for 20-40 ug iodine/g of salt (20-40 ppm); thus if an individual eats 5 g of salt iodized at 30 ppm, he or she gets 150 ug iodine from this source alone. Iodine deficiency is best measured through urinary iodine concentrations (UIC) in representative sampling of clusters of population groups ...
  

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• Breast-milk iodine concentration declines over the first 6 mo post-partum in iodine-deficient women

  (Mulrine HM, Skeaff SA, Ferguson EL, Gray AR, Valeix P. )

  In infants, iodine deficiency at crucial periods of development may lead to growth retardation, impaired hearing capacity and reduced cognitive function. WHO recom-mends that infants are exclusively breastfed until 6 mo of age. Consequently, the iodine intake of the breastfed infant relies solely on the iodine concentration of breast milk, which in turn reflects the mother‘s iodine status. In countries with a good supply of iodine, the breast-milk iodine concentration (BMIC) can be as high as 180 ug/L. In iodine-deficient areas, the BMIC often falls to <50 ug/L and is unlikely to supply an infant with enough iodine to meet daily requirements of 110 ug/d ...
  

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• Progress against IDD in the Eastern Mediterranean

  (Izzeldin Hussein)

  On October 3 to 6, 2010, the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean met in the Kuwait Conference Hall of the WHO Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) in Cairo, Egypt. The EMRO regional strategy on nutrition 2010–2019 was developed through a consultative process by the WHO Regional Advisory Committee on Nutrition including representatives from Member States, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, World Food Program, International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), UNRWA, Middle East and North African Nutrition Association and International Union of Nutritional Sciences. The strategy addresses the major health and nutrition problems in the Region and includes control of IDD, targeting undernutrition, and other micronutrient deficiencies. It aims to support countries in establishing and implementing action in nutrition in accordance with their national situation and resources ...
  

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• Risk of iodine excess in schoolchildren in Guizhou Province, China

  (Xiao-song LI, De-mei Zhou, Zhong-ying Yao )

  Guizhou Province is one of the regions historically affected by iodine deficiency in China. Severe endemic goiter (40%) and cretinism (3%) were reported by many early authors. A law in Guizhou Province stipulating that all salt for human consumption should be iodized at 20ppm was begun in 1985, as the main strategy to correct IDD. Surveillance of urinary iodine values and goiter rate of the Guizhou popula-tion has been done every 3 years since 1985. The result was that the goiter rate decreased and no more cretins were born. From 1995 to present, China has been implementing universal salt iodiza-tion (USI) in the entire country ...
  

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• The ”Pescopagano survey” evaluates the impact 15 years after voluntary iodine prophylaxis through iodized salt in Italy

  (F Aghini-Lombardi, M Provenzale, L Puleo, L Antonangeli, A Pinchera, P Vitti )

  Fifteen years ago, in 1995, a landmark cross-sectional survey was done on the prevalence and distribution of thyroid disorders in the whole population of a village in the South of Italy, called Pescopagano, in the Basilicata region. At the time of the survey, the village, located in the Lucan Apennines at 954 m above sea level, was characterized by a median urinary iodine (UI) of 55 ug/L, indicating mild to moderate iodine deficiency. At the time of the survey, the registered population of Pescopagano was 2348 people. Daily commuters to neighboring towns accounted for 620 people, and they were excluded from the survey because of their exposure to different dietary intakes of iodine. A total of 317 people of the 1728 permanently residing in the village failed to respond to 2 consecutive calls to participate in the survey ...
  

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