TY - JOUR
T1 - Iodine nutrition with North Atlantic living: the Faroese adolescents
AU - Johannesen, Herborg Líggjasardóttir
AU - Andersen, Stig
AU - Andersen, Stine Linding
AU - Nielsen, Kári Rubek
AU - Weihe, Pál
AU - Petersen, Maria Skaalum
AU - Veyhe, Anna Sofía
PY - 2023/2/8
Y1 - 2023/2/8
N2 - Iodine nutrition is critical for human health. While iodine excretion was low within the recommended range among adult Faroese, younger generations tend to abandon local foods. Such changes raise a concern about iodine intake, which led us to perform this first study of iodine nutrition among teenagers in the North Atlantic islands. We used samples from a nationwide collection of urine samples in 14-year-olds following iodine fortification of salt in 2000. Urine was analysed for iodine and creatinine to adjust for dilution by iodine/creatinine, and a food frequency questionnaire was used to record the intake of iodine-rich foods. The 129 participants yielded a 90 % precision of the estimated iodine nutrition level. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was 166 g/l (bootstrapped 95 % confidence interval 156-184 g/l). The median creatinine-adjusted UIC was 132 g/g (bootstrapped 95 % CI 120-138 g/g). Fish and whale meat dinners were more frequent among residents of villages compared with the capital: median fish dinners, 3 v. 2 per week (P = 0·001), and whale meat, 1 v. 0·4 per month (P < 0·001). UIC decreased with fewer fish dinners (P = 0·03). Our study demonstrated that Faroese teenagers were iodine-replete. The changing dietary habits emphasise the need for continuous monitoring of iodine nutrition and surveying iodine deficiency disorders.
AB - Iodine nutrition is critical for human health. While iodine excretion was low within the recommended range among adult Faroese, younger generations tend to abandon local foods. Such changes raise a concern about iodine intake, which led us to perform this first study of iodine nutrition among teenagers in the North Atlantic islands. We used samples from a nationwide collection of urine samples in 14-year-olds following iodine fortification of salt in 2000. Urine was analysed for iodine and creatinine to adjust for dilution by iodine/creatinine, and a food frequency questionnaire was used to record the intake of iodine-rich foods. The 129 participants yielded a 90 % precision of the estimated iodine nutrition level. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was 166 g/l (bootstrapped 95 % confidence interval 156-184 g/l). The median creatinine-adjusted UIC was 132 g/g (bootstrapped 95 % CI 120-138 g/g). Fish and whale meat dinners were more frequent among residents of villages compared with the capital: median fish dinners, 3 v. 2 per week (P = 0·001), and whale meat, 1 v. 0·4 per month (P < 0·001). UIC decreased with fewer fish dinners (P = 0·03). Our study demonstrated that Faroese teenagers were iodine-replete. The changing dietary habits emphasise the need for continuous monitoring of iodine nutrition and surveying iodine deficiency disorders.
KW - Artic society
KW - Faroe Islands
KW - Health survey
KW - Iodine status
KW - Urinary iodine excretion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147969976&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/jns.2022.111
DO - 10.1017/jns.2022.111
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2048-6790
VL - 12
JO - Journal of Nutritional Science
JF - Journal of Nutritional Science
M1 - e17
ER -