title: Successful struggle against iodine deficiency disorders (I.D.D.) in Croatia.
abstract: In Croatia a law requiring obligatory iodination of all salt with 10 mg KI per kg of NaCl was proclaimed in 1953. After first ten years of implementation a threefold reduction of goiter prevalence was recorded. Presented study indicates that, four decades later, mild iodine deficiency still persists, keeping goiter prevalence among schoolchildren between 8% and 35%. In continental parts of Croatia 69% to 86% of children had urinary iodine excretion above 5 micrograms/dL, while only 17% to 34% had it above 10 micrograms/dL. In Zagreb, 5% to 13.2% of children had thyroid volumes above the upper limits for their age. Control of salt produced in Pag revealed the average KI value of 8.3 mg/kg. On the basis of these results Croatian Ministry of Health proclaimed, on October 9, 1996, a new regulation requiring 25 mg KI in each kg of NaCl.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology, University Hospital Sestre Milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kusić
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lechpammer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006042:Goiter / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007455:Iodine / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D011193:Potassium Iodide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary
chemical_list: D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D011193:Potassium Iodide; D007455:Iodine