IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v52y2018i3d10.1007_s11135-017-0529-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does the iodized salt therapy of pregnant mothers increase the children IQ? Empirical evidence of a statistical study based on permutation tests

Author

Listed:
  • Massimiliano Giacalone

    (University of Naples Federico II)

  • Agata Zirilli

    (University of Messina)

  • Mariacarla Moleti

    (University of Messina)

  • Angela Alibrandi

    (University of Messina)

Abstract

The nutritional iodine deficiency disorders are still a major health problem in industrialized countries, but they are completely preventable by means of iodine prophylaxis. Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone (TH) synthesis and TH is required for normal brain development. Gestational iodine supplementation may improve infant cognitive development. In this study we aimed at evaluating the intelligence quotient of children born to mothers with different levels of iodine supplementation, with or without the administration of levothyroxine (LT4), prior to and during pregnancy. In particular we focused our attention on some mother–child pairs and we compared them according to iodized salt consumption and LT4 treatment. In this specific context, NPC test was applied to compare four groups of children, defined on the basis of maternal history related to iodized salt consumption and LT4 treatment. The results show that the deficit in functionality cognitive (in terms of intelligence quotient) is significantly higher in the children of mothers that does not make supplementation of iodized salt. This shows how a lack of iodine can hinder children in reaching their full intellectual potential. From a methodological point of view, our research showed the utility of the Non Parametric Combination test (NPC test) into analyze data concerning medical research.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Giacalone & Agata Zirilli & Mariacarla Moleti & Angela Alibrandi, 2018. "Does the iodized salt therapy of pregnant mothers increase the children IQ? Empirical evidence of a statistical study based on permutation tests," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 1423-1435, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0529-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-017-0529-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-017-0529-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-017-0529-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Feyrer & Dimitra Politi & David N. Weil, 2017. "The Cognitive Effects of Micronutrient Deficiency: Evidence from Salt Iodization in the United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 355-387.
    2. Rosa Arboretti Giancristofaro & Stefano Bonnini & Luigi Salmaso, 2009. "Employment status and education/employment relationship of PhD graduates from the University of Ferrara," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(12), pages 1329-1344.
    3. Marco Marozzi, 2016. "Combination of distribution-free tests for the general two-sample problem with application to the social sciences," Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(21), pages 6421-6435, November.
    4. Stefano Bonnini & Livio Corain & Fortunato Munaò & Luigi Salmaso, 2006. "Neurocognitive Effects in Welders Exposed to Aluminium: An Application of the NPC Test and NPC Ranking Methods," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 15(2), pages 191-208, August.
    5. Stefano Bonnini & Livio Corain & Fortunato Munaò & Luigi Salmaso, 2006. "Neurocognitive Effects in Welders Exposed to Aluminium: An Application of the NPC Test and NPC Ranking Methods," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 15(2), pages 191-208, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leandro De Magalhães & Dongya Koh & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2016. "Consumption and Expenditure in Sub-Saharan Africa," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 16/677, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK, revised 07 Oct 2016.
    2. Leandro DE MAGALHÃES & Dongya KOH & Räul SANTAEULILA-LLOPIS, 2019. "The Cost of Consumption Smoothing: Less Schooling and less Nutrition," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(3), pages 181-208, September.
    3. N. Meltem Daysal & Jonas Cuzulan Hirani, 2021. "Early-life medical care and human capital accumulation," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 217-217, September.
    4. Huang, Qingyang & Liu, Chang & Zhou, Li-An, 2020. "Farewell to the God of Plague: Estimating the effects of China's Universal Salt Iodization on educational outcomes," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 20-36.
    5. Araújo, Daniel & Carrillo, Bladimir & Sampaio, Breno, 2021. "The Long-Run Economic Consequences of Iodine Supplementation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    6. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    7. Benjamin Ly Serena, 2022. "Cognitive consequences of iodine deficiency in adolescence: evidence from salt iodization in Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 869-902, July.
    8. Zichen Deng & Maarten Lindeboom, 2020. "A Bit of Salt a Trace of Life - Gender Norms and The Impact of a Salt Iodization Program on Human Capital Formation of School Aged Children," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-067/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Lazuka, Volha, 2017. "The lasting health and income effects of public health formation in Sweden," Lund Papers in Economic History 153, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    10. Petter Lundborg & Dan-Olof Rooth & Jesper Alex-Petersen, 2022. "Long-Term Effects of Childhood Nutrition: Evidence from a School Lunch Reform [The Long-run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(2), pages 876-908.
    11. Deng, Zichen & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2019. "A Bit of Salt, a Trace of Life: Gender Norms and the Impact of a Salt Iodization Program on Human Capital Formation of School Aged Children," IZA Discussion Papers 12629, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Jia Wu & Jiada Lin & Xiao Han, 2023. "Compensation for girls in early childhood and its long-run impact: family investment strategies under rainfall shocks," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1225-1268, July.
    13. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Steven Bednar & Teresa Molina & Quynh Nguyen & Anant Nyshadham, 2020. "When It Rains It Pours: The Long-Run Economic Impacts of Salt Iodization in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(2), pages 395-407, May.
    14. Clay, Karen & Schmick, Ethan & Troesken, Werner, 2019. "The Rise and Fall of Pellagra in the American South," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(1), pages 32-62, March.
    15. Bolbocean, Corneliu & Tylavsky, Frances A., 2021. "The impact of safety net programs on early-life developmental outcomes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    16. Tafesse, W.;, 2018. "The effect of mandatory iodine fortification on cognitive test scores in rural India," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 18/10, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    17. Daniel Herrera‐Araujo, 2016. "Folic acid advisories: a public health challenge?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(9), pages 1104-1122, September.
    18. Deng, Zichen & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2022. "A bit of salt, a trace of life: Gender norms and the impact of a salt iodization program on human capital formation of school aged children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    19. Marco Marozzi, 2015. "Measuring Trust in European Public Institutions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 879-895, September.
    20. Robert D. Osei & Monica P. Lambon-Quayefio, 2022. "Effects of Long-Term Malnutrition on Education Outcomes in Ghana: Evidence from a Panel Study," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 1-21, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0529-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.