RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Clueless Professor Quack: Students may need more iodine Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:34 am | |
| A LACK of iodine may partly explain why Australian schoolchildren are being beaten in international tests by their counterparts in Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, an expert on iodine deficiency says.
The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has set the goal of Australia's school system being in the world's top five by 2025.
International test results released in December placed Australia 27th in the world in year four reading, 22nd in science and 18th in maths.
Writing for Fairfax Media, Cres Eastman, a professor of medicine at the University of Sydney and an internationally noted expert on iodine deficiency, says the top-performing education systems, including Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong, have diets that are rich in iodine, because of salt iodisation, and the consumption of fish and seaweed. Advertisement
In contrast, he says a national survey of schoolchildren in 2003-04 has confirmed the re-emergence of iodine deficiency in Australia after an absence of almost half a century.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/students-may-need-more-iodine-20130108-2ceu8.html#ixzz2HTA3k5vT
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