Med. J. Msia: Micronutrients and Its [sic] Correlation with Mental Performance among School Children in Bario, Sarawak.

2002, Micronutrients and Its [sic] Correlation with Mental Performance among School Children in Bario, Sarawak. Med. J. Msia 58 (3):309-19.

The Bario highlands have long been known to be goiter-free and to have high-iodine well water and high-iodine, locally produced salt boiled down from mineral spring water; the salt was traded regionally. The Zaleha group found that 25 7-12 year olds in Bario had ample micronutrients but a mental performance rating below 100 (average). Boys did better than girls (median 92 vs. 75, but for both sexes together, 82). However, no child had a score over 110. The authors contrast these findings with those for Orang Asli at Pos Legap, Perak (ref. cited: Zaleha M. I., The effects of levothyroxine and iodized oil supplementation in IDD prevention on thyroid hormone levels, nutritional status and mental performance among the aborigines of Malaysia. Ph.D. thesis, UKM, 1999). The Bario kids were better nourished and better in mental performance (82 vs. 67 for Orang Asli kids). The authors also noted that school performance was "average" for Bario but "very poor" for the Legap kids. Low iodine availability may be one factor: iodine deficiency can cause mental retardation, even cretinism (as once occurred in Switzerland). (Dee Baer, Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon).