Iodine status and thyroid volumes of school age children from Northern Cyprus.

In an epidemiological study carried out in eight different inland and coastal areas from northern part of Cyprus Island 625 School Age Children (SAC) aged 9 and 10 years, underwent thyroid ultrasonography for determination of thyroid volume (TV). Urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was measured from morning urine samples taken from all of the children. Mean TV was 3.2+/-1.0 ml, 3.3+/-0.8 ml and 3.8+/-1.1 ml, 3.7+/-1.1 ml for 9- and 10-year-old girls and boys respectively. None of the SAC had TV exceeding recommended upper limits for their age and gender. Median UIC of the whole group was 120 microg/l (11-900 microg/l) and only 12.6% of the SAC had UIC below 50 microg/l indicating adequate iodine intake. In this first epidemiological survey conducted in the northern part of the Cyprus Island, iodine status was found to be satisfactory and goiter does not pose a public health problem at the time of the study. Periodical surveys are required especially for the regions which have marginally adequate values and for a coastal region with a significantly higher median value of UIC compared to the others (ie 458 microg/l) (p<0.001).