WHAT IS IODINE DEFICIENCY?
Iodine deficiency is when your body does not get enough iodine for the thyroid gland to work normally.
- Thyroid cells need iodine to make thyroid hormone. If you do not have enough iodine in your body, you cannot make enough thyroid hormone.
- Iodine deficiency can cause:
- your thyroid gland to grow too big (goiter – see Goiter brochure),
- your thyroid gland to not make enough thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) (see Hypothyroidism brochure),
- intellectual disabilities in babies whose mothers did not have enough iodine during pregnancy.
- The body does not make iodine, so you need to get it from the foods you eat. Iodine is found in various food (see Table 1)
Before the 1920s, iodine deficiency was common in the Great Lakes, Appalachian, and Northwestern United States (U.S.) regions and in most of Canada. When people started using iodized salt, iodine deficiency became much less common in the U.S. and Canada.
Today, people in many parts of the world still do not have enough iodine and iodine deficiency continues to be a public health problem. About 30% of the people in the world are at risk for iodine deficiency.
TABLE 1: Common Sources Of Dietary Iodine |
Iodized table salt
Iodine-containing multivitamins Seaweed (kelp, kombu, nori, dulse) Saltwater fish (cod, sardines, salmon, tuna) Shellfish (scallops, shrimp) Dairy (milk , cheese, yogurt) Eggs |