Pregnant women lack guidance on iodine intake levels
Pregnant women are not getting enough information about the need to include iodine in their diets, despite high awareness of general advice for pregnancy nutrition.
FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
More than 7 in 8 of pregnant women in the UK are still not aware of official nutritional advice to ensure an adequate intake of iodine - essential for thyroid hormones, and therefore for the healthy development of their unborn child, as well as their own health and wellbeing.And for 3 in 4 pregnant women, their dietary intake of iodine falls short of the amount recommended by the W.H.O - which has long identified iodine deficiency in early life as the commonest nutritional cause of 'brain disorders' worldwide.
Severe iodine deficiency in pregnancy has long been known to cause 'cretinism' - a syndrome involving profound and irreversible impairments of both mental and physical development in the resulting children.
What was not confirmed - until a few years ago - is that even mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency in pregnancy is linked with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes for the unborn child.
- But in a landmark UK study, this level of iodine deficiency in mothers-to-be during pregnancy was shown to lead to significant reductions in the verbal intelligence, reading accuracy and reading comprehension of their children at 8-9 years of age.
The mothers in that study were pregnant in the early 1990s - when 2/3 were found to have mild-moderate iodine deficiency.
Data from this latest UK study indicate that it is now 3/4 of British women who fail to reach recommended iodine intakes in pregnancy.
The main dietary sources of iodine are milk and dairy products, and fish and seafood. So women whose diets do not regularly inlcude plenty of these foods are likely to be at high risk of iodine deficiency unless they supplement.
Adequate iodine intakes at any time are important for general health (as thyroid function affects almost every aspect of metabolism) - but it is particularly important during pregnancy, when deficiencies can permanently impair brain development in the unborn child.
As this new research shows, this message - and its serious implications - is clearly still not getting through to most UK women of childbearing age, and these findings highlight yet again the need for effective action from public health authorities to ensure that it does.
Please find the underpinning research here:
For more information on how a lack of iodine in pregnancy can harm children's brain development, please see:
26 May 2015 - MedicalXpress
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While 96% of pregnant women surveyed by researchers were aware of general nutritional recommendations for pregnant women, only 12% were aware of iodine-specific advice.
The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, estimated the median intake of iodine during pregnancy was 190 micrograms (ug) per day, with 74% consuming less than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended intake of 250ug daily.
Iodine is required for the production of thyroid hormones, which are crucial for fetal development with links between iodine deficiency and developmental impairments.
Dr Emilie Combet, who led the research at the University of Glasgow, said:
"Women aren't receiving the message about the importance of iodine in pregnancy, meaning they cannot make informed choices to ensure they get the amount they require."
Iodine deficiency affects 1.9 billion people globally and is the most preventable cause of intellectual disability.
The UK is ranked 8th in a list of iodine-deficient countries in the world. The main sources of iodine-rich foods are seafood and dairy products, and in some countries iodine-fortified salt or bread.
In the UK, the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) for adults is 140ug per day, with no proposed increment for pregnant and lactating women. Unborn children and young infants are entirely reliant on their mother for iodine supply, making babies and pregnant or lactating mothers the most vulnerable groups of the population.
At present there is no recommendation for routine iodine supplementation in the UK unlike folic acid and Vitamin D, or routine testing in pregnancy that would reflect iodine levels, as there is with iron.
Dr Combet said: "Iodine is crucial during pregnancy and the first months of life, to ensure adequate brain development, but achieving over 200ug a day of iodine through diet requires regular consumption of iodine-rich foods such as milk and sea fish. Not everyone will have the knowledge, means or opportunity to achieve this.
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