The Economist-20241109期「Leaders」Iodine deficiency: An avoidable threat to babies' brains
02 全文梳理
【para1】引出话题👉碘对甲状腺至关重要，且缺碘可致智商下降
【para2】回顾历史👉一个世纪前碘缺乏症普遍，食品碘化措施大幅降低了全球碘缺乏症发病率
【para3】当下困境👉当前富裕国家碘水平再次下降，孕妇面临更大健康风险
【para4-5】原因剖析
-para4 来源单一👉民众依赖食盐获取碘，但加工食品和高档盐中碘含量不足
-para5 饮食结构变化👉素食和环保饮食趋势下肉鱼奶等天然碘源摄入量减少
【para6-7】提出对策
-para6 对策之一👉政府可针对特定食品(植物奶和加工食品等)推行碘化政策保障碘摄入
-para7 对策之二👉扩大碘补充剂供应、加强公共卫生信息宣传
【para8】收益回报👉食盐碘化带来巨大经济和健康收益，发展中国家受益最大
【para9】总结呼吁👉呼吁公众重视碘摄入，警惕潜在健康风险
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Iodine deficiency: An avoidable threat to babies' brains
Iodine levels are slipping in the rich world. Simple fixes can avert disaster
Iodine deficiency: An avoidable threat to babies' brains
Iodine levels are slipping in the rich world. Simple fixes can avert disaster
[5] The rise in veganism and climate-conscious eating has also reduced appetites for fish and meat, which are natural sources of iodine. Because dairy farmers add iodine to feedstocks to keep their cattle healthy, milk products are also serendipitously fortified (in Britain and America, a litre of milk contains more iodine than a teaspoon of iodised salt). Alternative milks, which are increasingly popular, mostly lack these protections.
[6] There are simple remedies governments can apply. First, identify the foodstuffs most commonly consumed by the needy population and mandate their iodisation. Dairy alternatives and salts used in processed foods should top the list. Iodised salt can be added to bread, as in Australia and Denmark. Large food companies could seize the opportunity to improve their customers' health before being legally obliged to do so.
[7] Iodine supplements could also be made more widely available, especially to pregnant women; two-fifths of prenatal vitamins in America currently lack the mineral. And public-health messaging on their value should be clearer. In regions where iodine levels in the soil are low, farmers should be incentivised to add more to animal feed.
[8] Such interventions would pay for themselves many times over. Between 1993 and 2019 salt-iodisation schemes are estimated to have prevented 720m cases of deficiency worldwide, with improvements to cognitive development and earning power leading to a net economic benefit of $32bn a year. Poorer countries, where most of the 2bn people with iodine deficiency are thought to live, would have the most to gain.
[9] Some worry that people may be confused if told both to eat less salt and to consume enough iodine. That insults the public's intelligence. Others fret about risks of iodine over-consumption. But this could be overcome with careful planning, and in any case is less dangerous than consuming too little iodine. For too long the world has relied too much on luck to keep people supplied with this life-enhancing mineral. That so many countries succeeded without mandatory iodisation programmes was an accidental public-health triumph. It would not take much for it to become an accidental disaster. ■
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