{"id":2666,"date":"2017-10-26T18:09:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T08:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/?post_type=wimr_news&p=2666"},"modified":"2024-09-30T18:26:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T08:26:34","slug":"new-research-40-of-women-lack-iodine-a-critical-nutrient-in-pregnancy","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/news\/new-research-40-of-women-lack-iodine-a-critical-nutrient-in-pregnancy\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW RESEARCH: 40% of women lack iodine \u2013 a critical nutrient in pregnancy"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 40 per cent of women are deficient in iodine, an essential mineral in developing healthy brains in babies, new research out of Westmead has found.<\/p>\n

Lead researcher Professor Jenny Gunton, from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Westmead Hospital, said a lack of iodine was a major concern for women planning pregnancy as the deficiency could stunt a baby\u2019s brain development.<\/p>\n

\u201cPregnant women and those planning pregnancy must get enough iodine in their diet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIodine is a trace mineral that is essential for growth, and is critical in forming healthy brains in babies.<\/p>\n

Iodine deficiency is recognised as the single most preventable cause of mental delays globally.<\/p>\n

The best food-based iodine sources include marine (not freshwater) seafood, seaweed, iodised salt and bread.<\/p>\n

Internationally, iodised salt has been the main food source of additional iodine, in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations, but most salt sold in Australia is not iodised.<\/p>\n

In 2009, a public health measure aimed at boosting iodine consumption was introduced, mandating iodine be included in bread across Australia.<\/p>\n

Dr Gunton\u2019s study found that despite the measures, the median iodine level in the sampled group was 117ug\/L – well below the National Health and Medical Research Council\u2019s recommendation for pregnant and lactating women of 250ug\/L.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur study shows that adding iodine to bread has not been enough to meet the additional needs of women who are planning pregnancy,\u201d Dr Gunton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen in certain cultural groups who tend not to eat much bread are at even higher risk of iodine deficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
Pregnant women and those planning pregnancy must get enough iodine in their diet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Dr Gunton said it was important for women to have adequate iodine intake, even before they conceived. Her advice to women contemplating pregnancy was simple: start taking a pregnancy multivitamin now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen really should be taking pregnancy multivitamins before they even start trying to conceive \u2013 your baby\u2019s brain will start developing before you even know you\u2019re pregnant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause iodine passes through the body quite quickly, multivitamins are most effective when taken every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIodine levels are not commonly tested in pregnant women so women are often unaware they are lacking the nutrient; it makes taking a daily multivitamin all the more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Health and Medical Research Council also recommends women who are pregnant, breast feeding or considering pregnancy take a daily iodine supplement.<\/p>\n

Professor Gunton\u2019s study measured spot urinary iodine in 97 women of childbearing age (16 to 45) from outpatient clinics across Sydney.<\/p>\n

The research has been published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition: http:\/\/apjcn.nhri.org.tw\/server\/APJCN\/26\/6\/index.php<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 40 per cent of women are deficient in iodine, an essential mineral in developing healthy brains in babies, new research out of Westmead has found. Lead researcher Professor Jenny Gunton, from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Westmead Hospital, said a lack of iodine was a major concern for women planning pregnancy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2667,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2666","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}