Adding iodine to salt in 1924 raised average U.S. IQ scores

Evidence

Did iodized salt raise the IQ of 50 million Americans by 15 points? (Giving What We Can)

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Toxocara canis infection lowers IQ independent of socioeconomic and racial factors — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 980; Population IQ scores have risen rapidly over decades, refuting fixed-IQ claims — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 124; Rapid IQ gains from reduced disease burden rule out genetic explanations — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 945 (+28 more)

Related

• Salt iodization raised IQ scores of millions of people by 15 IQ points in iodine-deficient regions and is highly cost-effective at pennies per person per year. (similarity 0.94)
• Americans gained up to 15 IQ points after iodized salt became mandatory in 1924. (similarity 0.93)
• Introduction of iodized salt increased IQ by approximately 15 points for those most deficient in iodine. (similarity 0.91)
• Policies and interventions can raise a nation’s average IQ (similarity 0.91)
• A 2017 study found that the introduction of iodized salt in 1924 raised IQ for the one-quarter of the population most deficient in iodine. (similarity 0.91)
• Men from the lowest-iodine areas born in 1924 or later had an average IQ that was 15 points higher than their predecessors. (similarity 0.90)
• Salt iodization beginning in 1924 raised IQ by approximately one standard deviation (15 points) for the quarter of the population most deficient in iodine. (similarity 0.90)
• The paper’s authors ran falsification tests using 58 other disorders instead of goitre to check their identification strategy, providing reassurance on the causal claim. (similarity 0.90)
• Results are consistent with iodization raising IQ by 15 points in iodine-deficient areas and a nationwide average increase of ~3.5 IQ points. (similarity 0.90)
• Iodine played a substantial role in cognitive improvements across the American population in the 20th century. (similarity 0.89)
• Iodized salt raised IQs by a full standard deviation (15 points) in iodine-deficient areas, and may explain a decade’s worth of the Flynn effect. (similarity 0.88)
• Adding iodine to salt beginning in 1924 increased IQ in America by as much as 15 points and boosted the U.S. economy. (similarity 0.88)
• We find that for the one quarter of the population most deficient in iodine this intervention raised IQ by approximately one standard deviation. (similarity 0.88)
• A 2013 study found a gradual increase in average intelligence of 1 standard deviation, 15 points in iodine-deficient areas and 3.5 points nationally after the introduction of iodised salt. (similarity 0.87)
• Iodine deficiency is a major unrecognized cause of lowered intelligence (similarity 0.87)

Library Connections

• Iodizing salt in 1924 closed a 15-point IQ gap cheaply #exemplifies (0.95)
• Adding iodine to salt closed a 15-point IQ gap cheaply #exemplifies (0.95) — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 18
• Targeted interventions can raise a nation’s average intelligence level #exemplifies (0.90)