Goitre is a condition where the thyroid gland in the neck enlarges due to iodine deficiency. It was relatively common in New Zealand until the 1920s, when there was a public health initiative to fortify salt with iodine. This proved very successful, and goitre virtually disappeared within a few decades. Yet in the 1990s, research showed that a significant number of people were slightly deficient in iodine. This was thought to be the result of food manufacturers using non-iodised salt in their products, changes in dairy product manufacture, and a trend towards using speciality salts that do not contain iodine in cooking.
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University of Otago, Otago School of Medicine Library
Reference: E. D. Burnard and V. B. McGeorge, ‘A study of endemic goitre in Gisborne, NZ.’ Preventative medicine diss., University of Otago, 1939
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