REVIEW ERS ' CONCLUSIONS Despite most of the included studies being of low quality , the results suggest that iodine supplementation , especially iodised oil , is an effective means of decreasing goitre rates and improving iodine status in children .
Indications of positive effects on physical and mental development and mortality were seen , although results were not always significant .
Adverse effects were generally minor and transient .
BACKGROUND Iodine deficiency is the main cause of potentially preventable mental retardation in childhood , as well as causing goitre and hypothyroidism in people of all ages .
It is still prevalent in large parts of the world .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of iodine supplementation overall , and of different forms and dosages of iodine supplementation separately , in the prevention of iodine deficiency disorders in children .
Effect of voluntary intake of iodinated salt on prevalence of goitre in children.
The availability of iodinated salt containing 20 mg of iodine as io date /kg salt consumed on a voluntary basis enabled us to investigate its effect on goitre prevalence and iodine excretion in urine in a longitudinal , prospect i ve , r and omized study over 4 years . With this salt , under the assumption of a consumption of 5 g salt per day and person , an additional intake of 100 micrograms of iodine can be achieved . The study was performed on initially 334 children ( 168 boys , 166 girls ) at the age of 10 years living in an area of iodine deficiency . After 4 years , 286 children still participated in the study . Initially , goitre prevalence as assessed by palpation was found to be 30.5 % ( 37.4 % in girls and 23.8 % in boys ) . Neck circumference was found to be significantly higher in children with goitre compared with those without ( 30.2 + /- 1.4 vs 29.4 + /- 1.4 cm ; P less than 0.001 ) . Iodine excretion in the urine was significantly lower in children with goitre compared with those without ( 40.4 + /- 16.7 micrograms/g creatinine vs 46.1 + /- 24.9 micrograms/g creatinine ; x + /- SD ; P less than 0.05 ) . The children were r and omly assigned to two different groups : group A ( N = 146 ) was asked to use iodinated salt , group B ( N = 188 ) non-iodinated salt . Over the 4 years , a continuous increase in iodine excretion in urine could be demonstrated in group A. ( ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
REVIEW ERS ' CONCLUSIONS Despite most of the included studies being of low quality , the results suggest that iodine supplementation , especially iodised oil , is an effective means of decreasing goitre rates and improving iodine status in children .
Indications of positive effects on physical and mental development and mortality were seen , although results were not always significant .
Adverse effects were generally minor and transient .
BACKGROUND Iodine deficiency is the main cause of potentially preventable mental retardation in childhood , as well as causing goitre and hypothyroidism in people of all ages .
It is still prevalent in large parts of the world .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of iodine supplementation overall , and of different forms and dosages of iodine supplementation separately , in the prevention of iodine deficiency disorders in children .