Existence of iodine deficiency in Hong Kong--a coastal city in southern China
1996
Kung, A.W.C. | Chan, L.W.L. | Low, L.C.K. | Robinson, J.D.
Objective: Iodine deficiency is a serious public health problem worldwide which is associated with mental retardation and cretinism. In view of a high incidence of transient neonatal hypothyroidism and a relatively high mean cord blood thyrotropin (TSH) concentration, a pilot study was carried out to analyse the urine iodine excretion in Hong Kong, a coastal city in the southern part of China. Design: Early morning urine was collected from healthy volunteers including children (n = 104), adults (n = 112) and elderly subjects (n = 349). A semi-quantitative questionnaire survey on the pattern of food intake was conducted in the adults and elderly. Results: 45.3% of the children, 51.7% of the adults and 55.3% of the elderly had urine iodine concentration below the criteria for iodine sufficiency (<0.79 micromoles/l). Iodine content in the drinking water and salt was low. A dietary survey revealed that seafood was not commonly consumed. 50-80% of the subjects never consumed high-iodine containing food such as seaweed, kelp or laver, and only 50% consumed seawater fish daily. Conclusion: We confirmed that although Hong Kong is a non-goitrous area, iodine insufficiency exists. It is unsafe to assume that iodine deficiency does not exist in coastal urban areas.
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