Newborns, iodine nutrition

Iodine Nutrition and Iodine Deficiency in Term and Preterm Newborns Iodine Nutrition in Newborns... 

Enteral and parenteral nutrition fluids are the principal sources of iodine intake in these infants. If the mother has adequate iodine nutrition, breast milk is the best source of iodine for the newborn. 

The evaluation of the iodine nutritional status was based on the determination of iodine concentrations in a large series of casual urine samples. 1 In 196 infants from the Brussels area, the median urinary iodine concentration was 4.8 iig/100 ml, 53% of the values being below 5 flg/dl. The urinary excretion of iodine was estimated as 51 lg/day.This in turn, enhances the susceptibility of the newborn, and particularly the premature to transient neonatal hypothyroidism.l ... 

The iodine content in formula preparations must be taken into account. Parenteral nutrition does not supply the preterm newborn with sufficient iodine to meet the recommendations. Supplements should be added if iodine intake is found to be inadequate. 

Recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for iodine (I) intake of newborns are 30-35 ig/day. Delange et al. recommend a higher RDA for preterm babies (prems), possibly 30-40 ig/kg/day (Delange F. et al, Nesd6 Nutrition Workshop Series voL 16,1988), because they are frequently in negative balance. The aim of the present study was to assess the iodine intake of prems fed formula preparations widely used in the Spanish Health Care System, and to compare it with that of breast-fed prems. 

The data obtained so far support the conclusion that many of the formula preparation used for prems and newborns in Spain do not contain the minimum amount of I (7 li dl) recommended for formulas by European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. The large majority of prems do not ingest the RDA for newborns and appear to be in an iodine-deficient situation. 

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