Cognitive impairment may also range from mild to so severe that the person is nonverbal and dependent on others for basic care. Thought and reflexes are slower. Cause
Around the world, the most common cause of congenital iodine deficiency syndrome (endemic cretinism) is dietary iodine deficiency. Iodine is an essential trace element, necessary for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency is the most common preventable cause of neonatal and childhood brain damage worldwide. Although iodine is found in many foods, it is not universally present in all soils in adequate amounts. Most iodine, in iodide form, is in the oceans, where the iodide ions are reduced to elemental iodine, which then enters the atmosphere and falls to earth in rain, introducing iodine to soils. Soil deficient in iodine is most common inland, in mountainous areas, and in areas of frequent flooding. It can also occur in coastal regions, where iodine might have been removed from the soil by glaciation, as well as leaching by snow, water and heavy rainfall. Plants and animals grown in iodine-deficient soils are correspondingly deficient. Populations living in those areas without outside food sources are most at risk of iodine deficiency diseases. Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis
Dwarfism may also be caused by malnutrition or other hormonal deficiencies, such as insufficient growth hormone secretion, hypopituitarism, decreased secretion of growth hormone-releasing hormone, deficient growth hormone receptor activity and downstream causes, such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) deficiency. Prevention
There are public health campaigns in many countries which involve iodine administration.
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