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High Iodine and Salt Intakes and Obesity do not Modify the Thyroid Function in Mexican Schoolchildren

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Abstract

Mexico is considered as a nutritional transition country with a high prevalence of overweight and obesity, and recent studies have reported a high iodine intake in children. Both high iodine intake and obesity have been associated with thyroid dysfunction. Our aim was to assess iodine and salt intake and thyroid function in Mexican schoolchildren with normal weight and obesity. A cross-sectional study was performed during 2012–2013 in schoolchildren from Queretaro, Mexico. Six hundred seventy-eight schoolchildren were evaluated to obtain nutrition status, urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and thyroid volume (TVol). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 47.3 %, the median UIC was 428 μg/L and TVol was normal in all schoolchildren; however, obese girls had a higher TVol than normal weight at the age of 8, 10 and 12 years. A subsample of schoolchildren was divided in 6–8 and 9–12-year-old groups, in order to compare thyroid function (thyrotropin, free T4, and anti-thyroid antibodies); iodine and salt intake were estimated with 24-h urinary samples. No differences in thyroid function were observed in both age groups. In the 6–8-year-old group, obese schoolchildren had higher iodine intake than normal-weight children (415.5 vs. 269.1 μg/day, p < 0.05), but no differences in salt intake. In contrast, in the 9–12-year-old group, obese schoolchildren had higher salt intake than normal-weight children (6.2 vs. 3.8 g/day, p < 0.05), but no differences in iodine intake. Dietary patterns could explain the differences between both age groups. Further studies are needed to identify the main sources of iodine intake in Mexican populations.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank M. Sc. Ana Colarossi, from the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, for technical advice and training in urinary iodine determination. The authors are also grateful to the authorities of the Health and Education Authorities of Queretaro especially Dr. Carlos H. Medina Noyola and Lic. Jaime Escobedo Rodriguez for the logistic support to this study. We gratefully acknowledge the staff of all studied schools for their cooperation and the schoolchildren for their participation in the study. This study was supported by the National Council on Science and Technology-Mixed Funds (grant numbers FOMIX CONACYT-QRO-2009—117897 and FOMIX CONACYT-QRO-2012—192883).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Endocrinología y Nutrición, Departamento de Investigación Biomédica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Clavel 200. Fracc. Prados de la Capilla, Querétaro, Querétaro, CP. 76176, Mexico

    Lorena Méndez-Villa, Pablo García-Solís, Juan Carlos Solís-S, David Gustavo García-Gutiérrez & Valeria Alejandra Pérez-Mora

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Ludivina Robles-Osorio

  3. Departamento de Radiología, Vida Care Diagnóstico, Querétaro, Mexico

    Eduardo Sampson-Zaldívar

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  1. Lorena Méndez-Villa
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  2. Pablo García-Solís
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  4. David Gustavo García-Gutiérrez
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Correspondence to Pablo García-Solís.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics Approval

This study was approved by the Bioethical Committee of the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Queretaro and by the Committee of Research of Health Ministry of Queretaro. All participants voluntarily took part in the study and written consent was obtained from at least one parent or guardian.

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Méndez-Villa, L., García-Solís, P., Solís-S, J.C. et al. High Iodine and Salt Intakes and Obesity do not Modify the Thyroid Function in Mexican Schoolchildren. Biol Trace Elem Res 172, 290–298 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0591-1

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