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Mild iodine deficiency in a sample of New Zealand schoolchildren

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 56, pages 1169–1175 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To assess the iodine status of New Zealand schoolchildren.

Design: A proportionate to population size school-based cluster survey was used to randomly select children from two cities. The indicators used to assess iodine status were urinary iodine, as determined in a casual urine sample, and thyroid volume, as measured by ultrasonography. A qualitative food frequency questionnaire designed to ascertain frequency of consumption over the previous 3 months of foods or food groups that are good sources of dietary iodine, including iodized salt, was administered to each child.

Setting: Dunedin and Wellington, New Zealand.

Participants: Three-hundred children aged 8–10 y from 30 schools.

Results: The median urinary iodine concentration of the children was 6.6 µg/dl (interquartile range, 4.5–9.1). The percentage of children who had urinary iodine levels less than 5 µg/dl was 31.4 (95% confidence interval (CI), 24.2–38.6). Comparison of thyroid volume with 2001 World Health Organization age/sex-specific and age/BSA-specific cut-off values resulted in a goitre prevalence of 11.3% (95% CI, 7.6–15.1) and 12.0% (95% CI, 7.9–16.1), respectively. Almost 30% of the children's caregivers did not use iodized salt in cooking and 51% of the children did not use iodized salt at the table.

Conclusions: Mild iodine deficiency was found in this sample of children. Iodized table salt may no longer be making a significant contribution to the iodine intakes of New Zealand children.

Sponsorship: This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health in New Zealand.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Dr Neil Morrison of Otago Radiology for the use of the ultrasound machine and thank ultrasonographers Jill Muirhead, Annemieke Arron and Colin Gerrard. We gratefully acknowledge the help of Natassja Essed and Dianne Brown in Dunedin, Diana Clear in Wellington, technician Jody Joseph, and statistician Jo McKenzie. Finally we would like to thank all the children and their caregivers who participated in the study.

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Author notes

  1. SA Skeaff: Guarantor: SA Skeaff.

  2. SA Skeaff, CD Thomson and RS Gibson: Contributors: SAS participated in the design of the study, recruited the subjects, collected data, carried out statistical analysis and data interpretation, and prepared first and subsequent drafts of the manuscript. CDT and RSG participated in the design of the study, data interpretation and manuscript preparation.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    SA Skeaff, CD Thomson & RS Gibson

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  1. SA Skeaff
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Correspondence to SA Skeaff.

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Skeaff, S., Thomson, C. & Gibson, R. Mild iodine deficiency in a sample of New Zealand schoolchildren. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 1169–1175 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601468

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