Iodine supply in different geographical areas of Switzerland: comparison between rural and urban populations in the Berne and the Ticino regions

Objective: Ne studied the question of possible regional differences of iodi ne intake in the population of rural and urban areas north and south of the Alps. Design: Transversal study. Setting: Six different regions from northern (Canton Berne) and southern Sw itzerland (Canton Ticino). Subjects: For each region 30 individuals were studied. Results: While significant differences of urinary iodine between some regio ns were found (range from 79 mu g iodine/g creatinine in Chiasso to 130 mu g iodine/g creatinine in the Maggia Valley), no significant differences bet ween rural and urban populations of north and south of Switzerland were obs erved. Mild iodine deficiency affected 35%, moderate iodine deficiency 12% and seven iodine deficiency 0.6% of the total population investigated. Conclusions: 49% of this population showed at least mild or moderate iodine deficiency. The mean urinary iodine was just at the lower er recommended l imits. Significant differences were found between individual regions (such as Chiasso and the Valley of Maggia), but not generally between rural and u rban areas in the north and south of the Alps.