American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 22, 1584-1588, Copyright © 1969 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Goiter in Iran

¹ From the Food and Nutrition Institute of Iran, P.O. Box 3234, Teheran, Iran

The incidence of goiter in subjects from 13 localities situated in six Ostans of Iran (Baluchistan, Fars, Isphahan, Meshad, Khuzistan, and Gilan) is reported. A higher than 10% incidence could only be shown in 4 of the 13: Shiraz, 13.0; Meshad, 21.1; Dezful, 32.0; and Ahwaz, 17.0.

The magnitude of the problem in the area south of Teheran (45 villages) was assessed and a total of more than 13,000 subjects examined. Of these, 31.9% showed evidence of thyroid enlargement.

In the city of Teheran (South) some 900 primary school children were examined. It was found that 17.5% of them had goiter.

The good correlation found between the iodine content of drinking water and the incidence of thyroid enlargement points to the inadequate intake of iodine as the most probable cause of goiter in Iran.

The widespread use of rock salt, which is readily available at low prices from many small producers, would make the iodization of salt very difficult to control and therefore of doubtful value in Iran.