Effect of Moderate Environmental Iodine Deficiency on Adolescent Girls

Abstract

The effect of severe iodine deficiency in the environment on the population living in such areas is well documented. The effect of moderate iodine deficient environment on the health status of the population is not yet known well. The response of the thyroid gland to the onset of puberty especially in adolescent girls is well known and this enlargement is known as “physiological goiter.” Though it tends to regress after the growth spurt stops under normal circumstances, it increases in size in iodine deficient environments. As the adolescent girls are the future mothers, iodine deficiency in them will affect the newborns, resulting in neonatal hypothyroidism. Hence it is important to control iodine deficiency among adolescent girls.