Efficacy of educational intervention to improve awareness of the importance of iodine, use of iodized salt, and dietary iodine intake in northeastern Italian schoolchildren

Iodine deficiency is defined by the WHO as “the single most important preventable cause of brain damage” [1]. In recent decades, many national-scale programs to improve dietary iodine intake have been promoted, leading to a decline in the number of iodine-deficient countries: According to the latest Iodine Deficiency Disorders report, 12 % of countries participating in the last epidemiologic investigation were iodine deficient in 2016, down from 16% in 2015. These recent findings suggest an encouraging, positive trend toward optimal iodine intake in the general population, even though 57% of countries still have an inadequate iodine status in the vulnerable subgroup of pregnant women [2].

Source: Nutrition - March 26, 2018 Category: Nutrition Authors: Sara Watutantrige-Fernando, Susi Barollo, Loris Bertazza, Elisabetta Cavedon, Simona Censi, Jacopo Manso, Federica Vianello, Food Hygiene, Nutrition Services SIAN, Caterina Mian Tags: Applied nutritional investigation Source Type: research