[Natural deficiency of trace elements and ways of its prevention]

Eighty female adolescents living in the area where goiter is endemic were examined. The rates of increases in height and weight under 10 years were found to lag behind and, on the contrary, to excel their standard values in adolescence. The accelerated increases in height and weight in girls aged 11 to 15 years were attended by rises in morbidity rates. The number of children with normal sexual development in the area of goiter endemics was reduced to 28.8% and the prevalence of menstrual dysfunction increased up to 54.8%. Impaired menstrual function was most frequently recorded in girls with changed levels of follicle-stimulating and interstitial cell-stimulating hormones.