Effects of iodine supplementation during pregnancy on child growth and development at school age

Abstract

Growth and development of 207 children (49% males; mean age 5.4 years [SD 0.2], range 4 to 7.3 years whose mothers received iodine during pregnancy, and children who received iodine first in their 2nd year, were examined in 1996; 192 children (49% males; mean age 6.5 years [SD 0.2], range 5.8 to 6.9 years) whose mothers received iodine while pregnant were seen in 1998. Children were from the southern part of China's Xinjiang Province which has the lowest levels of iodine in water and soil ever recorded. Head circumference but not height was improved for those who received iodine during pregnancy (compared with those receiving iodine at age 2) and for those supplemented before the end of the 2nd trimester (relative to those supplemented during the 3rd trimester). Iodine before the 3rd trimester predicted higher psychomotor test scores for children relative to those provided iodine later in pregnancy or at 2 years. Results from the test for cognitive development resulted in trend only differences between those children supplemented during pregnancy versus later. The results address the question of when maternal iodine supplements should begin in public health programs world wide. Findings may be relevant to the treatment of maternal and newborn thyroid deficiency in industrialized countries, particularly for those infants delivered before the end of the second trimester.

Iodine Deficiency in Northern Paris Area: Impact on Fetal Thyroid Mensuration

“…Although iodine supplementation has been found beneficial even when started only in the second trimester of pregnancy [16], the benefits are greatest when it is begun before conception or very early during the pregnancy [17]. Consequently, ultrasonography of the fetal gland is probably not useful as a screening test for maternal iodine deficiency.…”

Preconception and Prenatal Environmental Factors Associated with Communication Impairments in 9 Year Old Children Using an Exposome-Wide Approach

“…Another study found an association between sodium valproate exposure in the 1 st trimester with language impairment [13]. A comparison of 5–6 year olds whose mothers had had prenatal iodine supplementation in an iodine-deficient area in China showed that delay in expressive language was reduced compared with non-supplemented controls [14]. Biomarkers have also shown evidence of possible prenatal mechanisms—for example examination of cord blood of girls in the Raine study showed an association between testosterone levels and subsequent pragmatic language score of the child [15].…”

A Brief Assessment of Learning for Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Low and Middle Income Countries

“…To summarize, approaches to testing child learning in LMIC generally fall into one of three categories: (1) use of tools developed and validated in higher income settings, translated for local use, (2) translation of existing tools with adaptation to adjust for local language and customs with the expectation that culturally adjusted measures may capture previously unexamined effects [20, 52], and (3) strategies created in and for the specific context to be studied in an attempt to address factors in learning presumed more salient in that context [47, 51, 53] The latter approach, although it may prove more valid among children in a specific environment, makes findings about child development and functioning across various cultural contexts difficult, and, as a result, does not contribute to understanding of child needs across LMIC that share the similar burden of raising children without their biological parents.…”