Z. Kusic et S. Lechpammer, SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE AGAINST IODINE DEFICIENCY DISORDERS (IDD) IN CROATIA, Collegium antropologicum, 21(2), 1997, pp. 499-506
In Croatia a law requiring obligatory iodination of all salt with 10 m
g KI pel hg of NaCl was proclaimed in 1953. After first ten years of i
mplementation a threefold reduction of goiter prevalence was recorded.
Presented study indicates that, four decades later; mild iodine defic
iency still persists, keeping goiter prevalence among schoolchildren b
etween 8% and 35%. In continental parts of Croatia 69% to 86% of child
ren had urinary iodine excretion above 5 mu g/dL, while only 17% to 34
% had it above 10 mu g/dL. In Zagreb, 5% to 13.2% of children had thyr
oid volumes above the upper limits for their age. Control of salt prod
uced in Fag revealed the average KI value of 8.3 mg/kg. On the basis o
f these results Croatian Ministry of Health proclaimed on October 9, 1
996, a new regulation requiring 25 mg KI in each kg of NaCl.