The State's War on Goiter
Public health officials launch a statewide initiative to prevent goiter in school children using iodine tablets.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Washington can be lifted from the Pacific Northwest goiter belt by a simple method of administering chocolate iodine tablets through the public schools, announced by officials of the Public Health League. Goiter is the easiest known disease to prevent. The administration of a minute iodine dosage of 10 milligrams once a week to school children between the ages of 6 to 16 will prevent goiter. A deficiency of the iodine salt in the water and soil of the Pacific Northwest is blamed for thyroid troubles in school children.
“Washington can be lifted from the Pacific Northwest goiter belt by a simple method of administering chocolate iodine tablets.”
This reflects the early 20th-century obsession with 'scientific' public health interventions, mirroring modern discussions on school-based nutrition and wellness programs in Washington schools.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.