UK survey finds that 69% of a sample of teenage schoolgirls have some degree of iodine deficiency
- Department of NSW, Clinical Education and Training Institute, Sydney, Australia
- Correspondence to Steven Boyages
Department of NSW, Clinical Education and Training Institute, Sydney, NSW 2124, Australia; steve.boyages{at}gmail.com
Implications for nursing practice and research
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■ Nurses need to understand the importance of iodine for normal thyroid physiology.
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■ Nurses need to be aware that teenage schoolgirls may have some degree of iodine deficiency and, if this is the case, provide appropriate dietary advice.
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■ Further research is needed to test the relationship of urine iodine levels to clinical outcome measures such as thyroid size measured as total goiter prevalence.
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■ Future studies should examine at population outcome measures of thyroid function and size.
Context
Iodine is an essential micronutrient for the production of thyroid hormones. In states of low-iodine intake, the …
