• Karen E Charlton, Heather Yeatman, Erin Brock, Catherine Lucas, Luke Gemming, Alison Goodfellow, and Gary Ma.
• School of Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia. karenc@uow.edu.au
• Prev Med. 2013 Jul 1;57(1):26-30.

IntroductionIn order to address population-level mild iodine deficiency in Australia, a mandatory iodine fortification programme of salt used in bread was introduced in late 2009.MethodsA before-after study was conducted to assess changes in median urinary iodine concentration (MUIC) measurements, according to supplement use, in convenience samples of pregnant women attending a public antenatal clinic in a regional area of New South Wales, Australia in 2008 (n=139), 2011 (n=147) and 2012 (n=114). Knowledge and practices related to iodine nutrition were investigated in 2012, using self-administered questionnaires.ResultsThe mild iodine deficiency confirmed pre-fortification (MUIC (IQR)=87.5 (62-123.5; n=110)) has steadily improved to 145.5 μg/L (91-252) in 2011 (n=106) and 166 (97-237) in 2012 (n=95) (sufficiency ≥ 150 μg/L). However, only women taking supplements containing iodine had MUIC indicative of sufficiency in both years surveyed post fortification (2011: 178 μg/L vs. 109 μg/L, P<0.001; 2012: 202 μg/L vs. 124 μg/L, P<0.05). Despite bread being the vehicle for iodine fortification, dairy foods remained major contributors to total iodine intake (58%). Overall knowledge regarding health implications of iodine deficiency was poor.ConclusionsIodine status of women has improved since the introduction of mandatory iodine fortification; however supplementation is indicated during pregnancy.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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