Iodine question spreads to Pacific islands

Extensive research by Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics into the deficiency of iodine in human diets has spread to the Pacific island country of Fiji.

Masters student at CSU and Lecturer in Biochemistry at the Fiji School of Medicine, Brijesh Kumar, is studying the distribution of iodine deficiency on Fiji’s main Island of Viti Levu.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation have contributed US$34 000 for research into iodine deficiency in Fiji through the Fijian Ministry of Health. The funds will be used to measure iodine deficiency and its effects, particularly in pregnant mothers, as well as children aged 8 to 12 years.

Iodine, a trace element that is necessary for the body’s thyroid gland, is essential for normal growth as well as physical and mental development in humans and animals. Dry skin and hair, depression, irritability and memory loss are just some symptoms of iodine deficiency. The effects on pregnant women and unborn children include physical abnormalities, increased infant still births, miscarriages, stunted growth and Cretinism – a chronic disease characterised by physical deformity.

Mr Kumar said the study will determine the effectiveness of a “Universal Salt Iodization” program that was implemented on the recommendation of UNICEF Pacific in Fiji in 1996. “The study will also focus on the participants’ diets and their knowledge of and attitudes towards iodine deficiency,” Mr Kumar said.

“We know that certain foods such as cassava, a major food in Fiji, as well as cabbage and turnips interfere with iodine uptake.”

The Fijian study will complement research already completed in the Riverina region of southern NSW, which found more than half of 16 communities in the region suffer a mild iodine deficiency.

“While about a third of all of people involved in the project had sufficient levels of iodine, almost 53 per cent showed a mild deficiency, and just under one-fifth were diagnosed as moderately or severely deficient,” said the study coordinator and CSU researcher Helen Moriarty.

The Riverina study also found that many people still had low levels of iodine even though they were taking iodised salt. “This corresponds to a Fiji report that found that the iodine levels in salts, even those that were iodized, were often far from the levels classed as sufficient,” Ms Moriarty said.

“The Fijian study focuses on those groups most at risk – children and pregnant women, while also providing an international perspective to our work.”         

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