Nearly half of local pregnant women lack iodine: researchers

By Cai Wenjun | December 2, 2014, Tuesday |

Online Edition

ALMOST half the pregnant women in Shanghai don’t have enough iodine, an element vital for the development development of a fetus, researchers have found.

The study of 1,000 women by the Ministry of Education Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health also revealed that 84 percent of pregnant women don’t have sufficient vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to pregnancy complications such as diabetes, hypertension and premature delivery and allergies in babies.

The study found that 48 percent of women in early pregnancy have insufficient levels of iodine, while in middle and late pregnancy, 35 percent are affected.

Women require more iodine during pregnancy as the fetus uses part of their levels.

“Fetus thyroid doesn’t work by itself in early pregnancy, so the pregnant women should take appropriate amount of iodine, which can come from supplements, iodized salt or seafood," said Zhang Jun, director of the laboratory located at Xinhua Hospital.

The research also found that more than 36 percent of local pregnant women suffer from a serious vitamin D deficiency. Overall, more than 84 percent don’t have enough of the vitamin.

“The lack in vitamin D is because many pregnant women don’t get enough sunshine, the best way to absorb the vitamin,” Zhang said.

Proper exercise and sunshine are extremely important for the health of pregnant women and their unborn children. To further study the effects of the environment on pregnancy and children’s health, the lab is recruiting 4,000 couples for a 10-year project.

Researchers will follow them from planning a pregnancy, the pregnancy itself, the newborn’s health and the child’s growth. It will take ten years to fulfill the project.

“So far, we have recruited 2,000 couples and more than 600 children have been delivered,” Zhang said.

Compared with traditional environment risks, we will focus more on new chemical pollutants like the effects of environmental hormones, plastic items.

Health and Science

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Nearly half of local pregnant women lack iodine: researchers

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