Why Do Kids Get Thyroid Disease?
In most cases, doctors and scientists can’t say exactly why a kid gets thyroid disease. It’s not something that you can catch from someone else like a cold, and usually it isn’t caused by anything you’ve eaten (or didn’t eat) or done to your body. A kid with thyroid disease might have inherited the condition because the tendency to get thyroid disease can run in the family. That means that a kid’s mom or dad, grandparents, or other close relatives might have thyroid problems, too. A baby can have hypothyroidism from birth if he or she is born without a thyroid gland or if the thyroid didn’t develop completely before birth. And sometimes a baby’s thyroid is fully developed at birth but just can’t make enough thyroid hormone. Not having enough iodine (say: eye-o-dine) in the diet can cause thyroid problems. Iodine is a mineral that’s needed by the body to make thyroid hormone. It’s found naturally in foods like seafood and milk. After scientists discovered that iodine is so important to
