Flaws of universal salt iodization programmes in nutrition transition contexts: is there a risk of a double burden of inadequate iodine intake and excess adiposity? A case study in Tunisia
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Background In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, universal salt iodization (USI) programs defaults were sometimes shown to increase the risk of iodine excess. Also, the nutrition transition which underlies the obesity epidemic in the MENA region is characterized by salt-rich diets, so that there could be a cumulative effect with respect to iodine status. We assess the within-subject co-existence of overweight and inadequate iodine intake, and associated factors.Methods A national cross-sectional study used a stratified, clustered random sample and conducted among Tunisian school-age children aged from 6 to 12 y. (n = 1560). Overweight (Ow) was body mass index (BMI)-for-age ≥ + 1z. Iodine deficiency was UIC (Urinary Iodine Content) < 100 µg/L and iodine intake above requirements (IAR) UIC ≥ 200 µg/L. Association of covariables with the within-subject double burden Ow–IAR was assessed by multinomial regression.Results The prevalences of Ow-ID or Obe-ID were marginal, but not so for excess adiposity and IAR as for example prevalence of Ow-IAR was 9.8% (95% CI:[7.7–12.3]). OW and IAR were found to co-occur independently (P = 0.29). Socio-economic patterning of Ow-IAR was mild. Nevertheless, prevalence were the lowest among children of mother with no formal schooling and in the South-East region. Beyond school-age children, we estimated that this double burden of overweight and excess iodine could concern a third of Tunisian adults (all the more for women).Conclusions Among Tunisian children, iodine deficiency coupled with excess adiposity was quite marginal. Coexistence of overweight and excess iodine may affect a tenth of these children. More data would be needed to document a possibly even higher rate among adults. Cumulative effects of unhealthy lifestyle due to the nutrition transition interacting with metabolic pathways may be involved in this potential overweight-high iodine intake double burden. In the MENA region, obesity and salt reduction policies should continue to be monitored.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.007 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".