Poor because they're *stupid*. Stupid because they're poor. -CNN

[ReiAyanami]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/24/brain.food.ap/index.html

"Iodine deficiency has lowered the intellectual capacity of almost all of the nations by as much as 10 to 15 percentage points. It causes 18 million children a year to be born mentally impaired."

Lack of iodine cuts 13 IQ pts
Lack of iron cuts another 7 IQ pts

So while the average American IQ is 100. these children have to start out with 80.

and now you know why ppl in 3rd world countries are poor. not because they're lazy, but because they don't have enough food nor nutrition.

and the morons that sit next to you in class. well their parents didn't feed them well, and yet their fat because they got all their food from mcdonalds. fat is not nutritious.

 

[ReiAyanami]

also, the iron deficiency has been used to explain why women generally score lower on the math portion of standardized tests is because the blood loss (iron) due to menstration roughly affecting 3-6% of the ones taking standardized tests at the time.

 

[ElFenix]

with all the salt people eat why is there an iodine deficiency?

edit: ah internationally. that wasn't clear from the "moron next to [me] in class"

 

[tnitsuj]

I can believe that.

 

[SherEPunjab]

i dunno. I've met some poor people in India but they are smarter than most people I know here, including myself. albeit, they weren't starving poor, just damn poor.

 

[Jhhnn]

Interesting article, Rei Ayanami. It's the kind of problem that's easily overlooked, hard to solve in less developed countries.

Maybe schemes to include tailored micronutrients in more commercial food products would help, as the UN is considering. It works in the US, for the most part, even though our diet is generally lousy. I have no idea how such a plan could effectively be implemented, given that some manufacturers will resist, seeking a price advantage...

There's salt, ElFenix, and then there's iodized salt, an enhanced product, tailored to avoid iodine deficiencies in those who consume that product-

http://www.saltinstitute.org/37.html

A terrific success story, in fact. Hopefully some creative thinking will help spread this kind of enhancement into more food products throughout the world...

Or not. I'm sure there's still some ravings about fluoridated water being a Commie plot...