Abstract: Vitti and colleagues1Vitti P Delange F Pinchera A Zimmermann M Dunn JT Europe is iodine deficient.Lancet. 2003; 361: 1226Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (112) Google Scholar have reported on iodine deficiency in Europe, and Koutras and colleagues2Koutras DA Alevizaki M Tsatsoulis A Vagenakis AG Greece is iodine sufficient.Lancet. 2003; 362: 405-406Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar have described the situation in Greece. We present a report on the situation of this deficiency worldwide.Iodine deficiency is the main preventable cause of brain damage in children and therefore constitutes a public-health concern worldwide. Assessment of the magnitude of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and monitoring of the progress made towards its elimination represent the cornerstone of the strategy for IDD control. Over the past few years, WHO has developed a database on IDD, in which data on urinary iodine and goitre from all countries of the world are compiled. On the basis of urinary iodine data collected during 1993–2003, the current national, regional, and worldwide prevalence of iodine deficiency has been estimated.The estimates presented focus on urinary iodine, since it is a more reliable indicator of recent iodine status than clinical goitre.3WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDDAssessment of the iodine deficiency disorders and monitoring their elimination. WHO, Geneva2001: 1-107Google Scholar However, clinical goitre prevalence was used to compare the 2003 results with those of the previous decade, for which figures for urinary iodine were not available.For each country, the most representative estimate of iodine deficiency was selected by use of two criteria: the administrative level for which the sample is representative (eg, national, regional, or local) and the population groups surveyed (eg, school-age children, pregnant women, adults). The database and results of the epidemiological analysis are available at: http://www3.who.int/whosis/micronutrient/ (accessed Oct 14, 2003).The results show that data for urinary iodine have been collected for 92% of the world's population. Globally, more than 1·9 billion individuals have inadequate iodine nutrition (defined as urinary iodine excretion <100 (μg/L), of whom 285 million are school-aged children (table). The world prevalence of school-aged children with inadequate iodine nutrition is 36·4%. The lowest prevalence is found in the Americas (10·1%) and the Western Pacific (25·7%), whereas the highest prevalence is found in Europe (59·9%). These findings show that iodine deficiency is still a public-health problem in some regions of the world.TablePrevalence of iodine deficiency in general population (all age-groups) and in school-age children (6–12 years) in 2003WHO regions*192 WHO Member States.Population†Based on population estimates for 2002 (United Nations, Population Division, World Population Prospects: the 2002 revision). with urinary iodine <100 μg/LGeneral populationSchool-age childrenAfrica260325000 (42·6%)49465000 (42·3%)Americas75081000 (9·8%)9955000 (10·1%)Eastern Mediterranean228451000 (54·1%)40224000 (55·4%)Europe435452000 (56·9%)42215000 (59·9%)Southeast Asia624013000 (39·8%)95628000 (39·9%)Western Pacific365332000 (24·0%)47056000 (25·7%)Total1988654000 (35·2%)284543000 (36·4%)* 192 WHO Member States.† Based on population estimates for 2002 (United Nations, Population Division, World Population Prospects: the 2002 revision). Open table in a new tab Salt iodisation is the recommended strategy for IDD control, since it has been shown to be an effective way of reducing the prevalence of IDD. The lowest prevalence of iodine deficiency is found in the American Region, where the proportion of households consuming iodised salt is the highest in the world (90%), and the highest prevalence of iodine deficiency is in the European Region, where the proportion of households consuming iodised salt is the lowest (27%).4WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDDProgress towards the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). WHO, Geneva1999: 1-33Google ScholarWe hope that this information system will be maintained in order to monitor the IDD situation and track progress towards the goal of global IDD elimination adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1990. Vitti and colleagues1Vitti P Delange F Pinchera A Zimmermann M Dunn JT Europe is iodine deficient.Lancet. 2003; 361: 1226Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (112) Google Scholar have reported on iodine deficiency in Europe, and Koutras and colleagues2Koutras DA Alevizaki M Tsatsoulis A Vagenakis AG Greece is iodine sufficient.Lancet. 2003; 362: 405-406Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar have described the situation in Greece. We present a report on the situation of this deficiency worldwide. Iodine deficiency is the main preventable cause of brain damage in children and therefore constitutes a public-health concern worldwide. Assessment of the magnitude of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and monitoring of the progress made towards its elimination represent the cornerstone of the strategy for IDD control. Over the past few years, WHO has developed a database on IDD, in which data on urinary iodine and goitre from all countries of the world are compiled. On the basis of urinary iodine data collected during 1993–2003, the current national, regional, and worldwide prevalence of iodine deficiency has been estimated. The estimates presented focus on urinary iodine, since it is a more reliable indicator of recent iodine status than clinical goitre.3WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDDAssessment of the iodine deficiency disorders and monitoring their elimination. WHO, Geneva2001: 1-107Google Scholar However, clinical goitre prevalence was used to compare the 2003 results with those of the previous decade, for which figures for urinary iodine were not available. For each country, the most representative estimate of iodine deficiency was selected by use of two criteria: the administrative level for which the sample is representative (eg, national, regional, or local) and the population groups surveyed (eg, school-age children, pregnant women, adults). The database and results of the epidemiological analysis are available at: http://www3.who.int/whosis/micronutrient/ (accessed Oct 14, 2003). The results show that data for urinary iodine have been collected for 92% of the world's population. Globally, more than 1·9 billion individuals have inadequate iodine nutrition (defined as urinary iodine excretion <100 (μg/L), of whom 285 million are school-aged children (table). The world prevalence of school-aged children with inadequate iodine nutrition is 36·4%. The lowest prevalence is found in the Americas (10·1%) and the Western Pacific (25·7%), whereas the highest prevalence is found in Europe (59·9%). These findings show that iodine deficiency is still a public-health problem in some regions of the world. Salt iodisation is the recommended strategy for IDD control, since it has been shown to be an effective way of reducing the prevalence of IDD. The lowest prevalence of iodine deficiency is found in the American Region, where the proportion of households consuming iodised salt is the highest in the world (90%), and the highest prevalence of iodine deficiency is in the European Region, where the proportion of households consuming iodised salt is the lowest (27%).4WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDDProgress towards the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). WHO, Geneva1999: 1-33Google Scholar We hope that this information system will be maintained in order to monitor the IDD situation and track progress towards the goal of global IDD elimination adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1990.
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-11-01
Language: en
Type: letter
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 90
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