As of December 2019, 122 countries have mandatory iodine food fortification programs. Treatment
Congenital iodine deficiency has been almost eliminated in developed countries through iodine supplementation of food and by newborn screening utilizing a blood test for thyroid function.Treatment consists of lifelong administration of thyroxine (T4). Thyroxine must be dosed as tablets only, even to newborns, as the liquid oral suspensions and compounded forms cannot be depended on for reliable dosing. For infants, the T4 tablets are generally crushed and mixed with breast milk, formula milk or water. If the medication is mixed with formulas containing iron or soya products, larger doses may be required, as these substances may alter the absorption of thyroid hormone from the gut. Monitoring TSH blood levels every 2–3 weeks during the first months of life is recommended to ensure that affected infants are at the high end of normal range. History
A goiter is the most specific clinical marker of either the direct or indirect insufficient intake of iodine in the human body. There is evidence of goiter, and its medical treatment with iodine-rich algae and burnt sponges, in Chinese, Egyptian, and Roman ancient medical texts. In 1848, King Carlo Alberto of Sardinia commissioned the first epidemiological study of congenital iodine deficiency syndrome, in northern Savoy where it was frequent. In past centuries, the well reported social diseases prevalent among the poorer social classes and farmers, caused by dietary and agricultural monocultures, were: pellagra, rickets, beriberi, scurvy in long-term sailors, and the endemic goiter caused by iodine deficiency.
The most common derivation provided in English dictionaries is from the Alpine French dialect pronunciation of the word Chrétien ("(a) Christian"), which was a greeting there. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the translation of the French term into "human creature" implies that the label "Christian" is a reminder of the humanity of the affected, in contrast to brute beasts. Other sources suggest that Christian describes the persons "Christ-like" inability to sin, stemming, in such cases, from an incapacity to distinguish right from wrong.Other speculative etymologies have been offered:

From creta, Latin for chalk, because of the pallor of those affected. From cretira, Grison-Romanche creature, from Latin creatus. From cretine, French for alluvium (soil deposited by flowing water), an allusion to the conditions suspected origin in inadequate soil. See also
Moron (psychology)

References
External links
 Media related to Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome at Wikimedia Commons