Iodine-free salt creates ‘national health problem’
Hebrew University researchers says Health Ministry is to blame
When Health Ministry public-health chief and associate director-general Prof. Itamar Grotto has been asked why it does not require the vital element iodine to be added to all salt as most countries do so, his reply was that this is “unnecessary and the need unproven.”
However, a first-ever national survey led by Hebrew University researchers has found a high burden of iodine deficiency in 62% of school-age children and 85% of pregnant women. The new research found that the shortage of iodine poses a “high risk of maternal and fetal hypothyroidism and impaired neurological development of the fetus in Israel.”
The researchers – who included colleagues at Maccabi Healthcare Services, Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon and ETH Zurich in Switzerland, with support of the nonprofit, nongovernmental Iodine Global Network – declared the iodine deficiency will require government funding and legislation and a government-regulated program of salt or food iodization.
The International Child Development Steering Group has identified iodine deficiency as a key global risk factor for impaired child development, and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends routine monitoring of population-based data on urinary iodine every five years as a means of sustainable elimination of the deficiency.
Enough iodine intake is essential for thyroid function and human health throughout life. Even mild iodine deficiency might prevent children from attaining their full intellectual potential, and mild to moderate deficiency has been linked with decreased cognitive performance. Iodine deficiency in utero and in early childhood impairs brain development, and severe iodine deficiency causes cretinism (physical malformation, dwarfism and mental retardation) and goiter (the enlargement of the thyroid gland).
According to the researchers, the high burden of iodine insufficiency in Israel is a serious public health and clinical concern. By comparison to data from other countries with a similar extent of deficiency, these data suggest that there is a high risk of maternal and fetal hypothyroidism and impaired neurological development of the fetus in Israel. By extrapolation, given the rate of insufficiency in Israeli pregnant women, nearly all pregnant women and their children may be at risk, implying that the majority of the population could be unlikely to realize its full intellectual potential.
“The immediate implication of our findings is that we need to improve the public’s intake of iodine,” said Prof. Aron Troen, principal investigator at the nutrition and brain health laboratory at the School of Nutrition Science at HU’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
“It seems that, as in most other countries, Israel’s food supply and our collective dietary habits do not ensure iodine sufficiency,” he said. “Thus eliminating iodine deficiency and achieving optimal iodine status in Israel’s population will require a sustainable, government-regulated program of salt or food iodization. The costs are small and the benefits substantial and have been proven in over 160 countries around the world where this is done.”
The research findings were presented at the 46th annual meeting of the Israel Endocrine Society, which took place last week in Ramat Gan. A committee set up some time ago and headed by its nutrition department head, Prof. Ronit Endevelt, is due to make recommendations soon.