Iodine deficiency is one of the top three micronutrient deficiencies that are targeted by the World Health Organization. Statistics estimate that 18 million infants are mentally impaired each year due to frank iodine deficiency. Salt iodization is effective in reducing rates of iodine deficiency, goiter and mental retardation. Nowadays, many countries are considered iodine replete, and the number of replete countries is increasing steadily (see report from Zimmermann on global progress in eliminating iodine deficiency).

Despite these results, even in well-nourished populations such as the UK and Australia in which iodine deficiency is considered to be a problem solved, low but not clinically deficient iodine levels in infancy are associated with poorer educational outcomes one decade later at school (see Bath et al. for a UK study, and Hynes et al. for data from Australia). Yet, we do not often see nutrition publications on iodine coming through on the TalkingNutrition research radar. Even worse, iodine deficiency seems to be reported in a way that detracts attention away from the considerable proportion of the population that is iodine deficient....