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As a parent, you’re always concerned with your child’s health and wellness. You make sure they’re eating their vegetables and getting enough protein, but vitamins and minerals are a little more challenging to track.
If you’re concerned about your child’s intake of necessary minerals like iodine, here’s what you need to know about iodine in foods, iodine deficiency, and the recommended daily amount of iodine for developing children.
What is Iodine?
Iodine (sometimes called iodide) is a mineral abundant throughout the earth. It occurs naturally in saltwater oceans and fertile soil. Many naturally occurring minerals are beneficial to the lives of humans, animals, and plants. Iodine is among the most important.
What Does Iodine Do for the Body?
The body cannot make thyroid hormones without iodine. These hormones are essential for more than just thyroid function. The body also uses the same hormones for brain development and bone development. Without micronutrients like iodine, children cannot grow well.
The thyroid is responsible for regulating metabolism, which is one of the most critical processes in the body. Metabolism is responsible for processing every nutrient, vitamin, and mineral you eat. It also helps the body create energy from food.
Iodine is crucially essential for pregnant people, as babies need iodine to grow to term. It’s equally as crucial during infancy when children are growing at a rapid rate. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, it’s essential to receive adequate amounts of dietary iodine.
How Much Iodine Do Kids Need?
The body only needs a small amount of iodine to produce a wealth of benefits. Iodine intake is measured in micrograms (mcg) rather than milligrams (mg). Guidelines for dietary allowances of iodine are as follows:
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Newborn to 6 months old – 110 mcg iodine daily
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Seven months old to 12 months old – 130 mcg iodine daily
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One year old to 8 years old – 90 mcg iodine daily
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Nine years old to 13 years old – 120 mcg iodine daily
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14 years and older – 150 mcg iodine daily
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During pregnancy – 220 mcg iodine daily
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While breastfeeding – 290 mcg iodine daily
Iodine status needs to be monitored closely throughout pregnancy and infancy. Check with your pediatrician if you're concerned about your child’s iodine levels, or if they have special health circumstances like prematurity or malabsorption issues, which put them at higher risk of iodine deficiency.
Can My Child Have an Iodine Deficiency?
Iodine deficiencies are extremely rare in developed countries. Their symptoms are noticeable and severe. Iodine deficiency typically begins with swelling around the thyroid gland, located at the front of the neck.
Unexpected changes in weight and appetite may occur, and weakness and fatigue set in.
People with iodine deficiency often feel very cold. Their skin may become dry and flaky, and they may lose their hair. Over time, iodine deficiency results in cognitive decline. Childrenwith iodine deficiency have trouble reading, learning, remembering, and reasoning. This is because thyroid hormones play a key role in brain development. Without sufficient amounts of these hormones, children can become cognitively impaired.
Can Kids Get Too Much Iodine?
It’s uncommon for children to consume too much iodine—especially through food alone. Iodine is naturally scarce in most diets, and deficiency remains a more common concern globally, particularly in regions without iodized salt or seafood access.
That said, excess iodine is still possible, especially if a child takes supplements with iodine they don’t need. Too much iodine can affect thyroid function and lead to either hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) or hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), both of which may impact energy levels, metabolism, and growth.
In most cases, following your pediatrician’s guidance and keeping supplements out of reach is the best way to prevent overconsumption. Iodine-rich medications—like certain heart medications—can also contribute to iodine overload, but this is more relevant in clinical settings.
Dietary Sources of Iodine for Kids
Unlike many other vitamins and minerals, iodine isn’t widely found in everyday foods. It naturally occurs in just a few dietary sources making it a bit trickier to get enough through diet alone.
If your child doesn’t consume many iodine-rich foods, talk to your pediatrician about other ways to ensure they’re getting enough—whether through fortified foods or a thoughtfully formulated children’s multivitamin.
Iodized Salt
Iodized Salt
Iodized salt is one of the most common sources of dietary iodine. Since salt is used in so many meals, adding iodine to table salt became a simple public health strategy to prevent deficiency.
Most iodized salts provide around 150 micrograms of iodine per teaspoon—but kids only need a fraction of that. And since high salt intake can impact blood pressure and kidney health, it’s important to use salt sparingly.
Sea salt, while trendy, isn’t typically iodized and doesn’t offer the same benefits. For families that use salt in cooking, choosing iodized salt in small amounts can help support iodine intake—without relying on it as the only source.
Fish and Seafood
Fish like cod, tuna, salmon, shrimp, and sea vegetables like seaweed, naturally contain iodine. They absorb it from the ocean and pass it onto you when you eat them. Iodine content may not be consistent or predictable from fish to fish, but amounts are typically sufficient.
If your child eats fish or shrimp, consider serving it several times a week to improve the overall iodine content of your child’s diet.
Dairy Products
A single cup of milk or serving of yogurt can provide enough iodine to satisfy your child’s daily recommended intake. It’s important to note that plant-based milk alternatives or milk substitutes do not contain substantial amounts of iodine.
What if My Child Can’t Have These Foods?
Since the two primary sources of dietary iodine are dairy and seafood, this may pose a problem for some households. Dairy, fish, and shellfish are among the most common major food allergens so kids allergic to these foods can’t safely ingest them.
Lactose intolerant children and children in plant-based diet households will encounter the same barriers. Babies who are breastfed by parents with the same allergies, dietary restrictions, or intolerances may also receive less iodine through breast milk.
Choosing the Right Iodine Supplements for Kids
Hiya was designed with the needs of growing children in mind. Hiya’s children's chewable multivitamin contains 15 vitamins and minerals that picky eaters and children on plant-based diets often have trouble acquiring through diet alone.
Hiya contains 50 mcg of iodine per serving, which is 56% of the daily value for children under the age of 4 and 33% of the daily value for children over the age of four. The combination of Hiya and foods with iodine can help your child meet their daily iodine goals.
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