Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding may want to start taking an iodine supplement, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many women in the U.S. are deficient in iodine, which is essential for babies' brain development, the association said in a statement published Monday in Pediatrics. The problem had been solved in the past by adding iodine to table salt, but these days most salt consumed by Americans comes from processed foods that don’t have iodine, said a pediatrician at Children's National Health System.
