A study of 6 and 15 year old students in the municipalities Chía and Bosa (a southern district of Bogotá) demonstrated excess iodine levels.

Colombia implemented a universal salt iodization policy and was declared free from iodine deficiency disorders in 1998. “However, although the country has been relatively successful with this law, it has failed because it’s not only about adding iodine to salt, but also about carrying out epidemiological reviews, and collecting samples to find out if adequate levels are consumed,” said Professor Roberto Franco, Director of the UNal Thyroid Disease Research Center.

In the present study, the average urinary iodine concentration was 401 mcg/L. Although this is an indirect sign of elevated iodine intake, Franco says that it was important for a country like Colombia to promulgate Act 44 of 1947, transform the former National Nutrition Institute into an entity of the Ministry of Hygiene, and set the salt iodization levels. He believes that the policy has played a crucial role in preventing low levels of iodine in the Colombian population, which can lead to severe mental retardation (cretinism).