Status of Iodine Nutrition in Switzerland

Abstract

Iodine deficiency was formerly rampant in Switzerland and several excellent surveys in the 19th century have documented IDD in schoolchildren, in army recruits and in the general population. We have recently reviewed the historical literature and added modern data on IDD in Switzerland (1, 2). The earliest urinary iodine measurements were made in 1923–25 and showed an iodine excretion of 18 ± 8 μg per day in the three heavily goitrous villages of Kaisten, Asp and Schinznach and of 64 ± 27 μg per day in the neighboring non-goitrous villages Effingen and Bözen (2, 3). The two measurements confirmed iodine deficiency as the cause of endemic goiter and ended the longstanding discussions and the many hypotheses to explain the high variability of goiter prevalence. Table 1 documents the high prevalence of IDD before prophylaxis. Deaf-mutism (as a marker for cretinism) was three times more prevalent than in neighboring countries with no iodine deficiency. The 1912 surveys also emphasize that within a few kilometers from heavily endemic areas some villages were goiter-free.