Good news for pregnant women who look forward to having a child with higher IQ, taking iodine supplements may boost a child's intelligence and save large amounts of money in future health expenditures, according to a new study.
The Telegraph reported that research results suggested UK's National Health Service could salvage around £200 per child if it provided small doses of iodine to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
Iodine is a mineral not manufactured by the body naturally, thus must be bolstered by eating foods such as shellfish, oily sea fish, cereals, grains and cow's milk.
Iodine plays an essential role in the healthy advancement of the nervous system and baby's brain while inside the womb. Severe iodine deficiency in pregnancy was one of the leading reasons of brain damage in the expanding world.
It was found out in the UK that the lack of this important mineral may result to substantial delayed development and mental impairment, resulting in lower intelligence and poorer schooling and lower paying jobs.
According to Kate Jolly, the study's co-author and a Public Health professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, the major cause of preventable retardation worldwide would still be iodine deficiency.
She added that iodine intake through diet alone will be enough to provide the needed amount, so expectant mothers or women with babies in countries that are iodine deficient should enhance their supplement intake, as per Mirror Daily, thereby helping the country's economy and most importantly improving a child's quality of life which is the primary goal of any anticipating parent.
In addition, NDTV Food has reported that the authors of the study estimated that the benefits of iodine intake in pregnancy equalled to 1.22 IQ points per child, with monetary advantage of £44,476 per gestation for society, thus providing substantial results.
