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Community and International Nutrition

Urinary Iodine Concentrations Indicate Iodine Deficiency in Pregnant Thai Women but Iodine Sufficiency in Their School-Aged Children^1,2

³ Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakon Pathom 73170, Thailand ⁴ Laboratory for Human Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich 8092, Switzerland; and ⁵ Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands 6700

The median urinary iodine concentration (UI) in school-aged children is recommended for assessment of iodine nutrition in populations. If the median UI is adequate in school-aged children, it is usually assumed iodine intakes are also adequate in the remaining population, including pregnant women. But iodine requirements sharply increase during pregnancy. In this study, our aim was to measure UI in pairs of pregnant women and their school-aged children from the same family, who were sharing meals, to directly assess whether a household food basket that supplies adequate iodine to school-aged children also meets the needs of pregnant women. UI was measured in spot urine samples from pairs (n = 302) of healthy pregnant mothers and their school-aged children in metropolitan Bangkok, Thailand. A dietary questionnaire was completed. The UI [median (range)] in the pregnant women {108 (11–558) µg/L [0.85 (0.086–4.41) µmol/L]} were lower than those of their school-aged children {200 (25–835) µg/L [1.58 (0.20–6.52) µmol/L]} (P < 0.001), indicating optimal iodine status in the children but mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency in their pregnant mothers. The estimated iodine intakes in the 2 groups were in the range of 130–170 µg/d. There was a modest positive correlation between UI in the pairs (r = 0.253; P < 0.01). A higher frequency of seafood meals was a significant predictor of UI in both groups, but household use of iodized salt was not. These data suggest the median UI in school-aged children should not be used as a surrogate for monitoring iodine status in pregnancy in central Thailand; pregnant women should be directly monitored.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: michael.zimmermann{at}ilw.agrl.ethz.ch.

Manuscript received 1 October 2008. Initial review completed 9 November 2008. Revision accepted 11 March 2009.

Published online 29 April 2009.

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				M. B. Zimmermann Iodine Deficiency Endocr. Rev., June 1, 2009; 30(4): 376 - 408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]