Unilateral visual impairment (UVI) is common in young children but its implications for development are uncertain. A study in North East England (

) has shown that UVI probably does not impair visuomotor performance unless there is associated impairment of stereoacuity. The study included 30 children with UVI without squint and 20 with normal vision in both eyes. Children with developmental delay were excluded. The mean age of all participants was 52 months. They underwent neurodevelopmental testing using a battery of tests targeting visuomotor integration, fine and gross visuomotor skill and visuospatial processing. Median stereoacuity was 70 s arc on the “circles” item of the Randot stereogram test (stereoacuity decreases with increasing test score ranging from 40 to 400 s of arc; normal <70 s arc). Seven of 28 children with impaired visual acuity had normal stereoacuity and five of 22 with normal visual acuity had impaired stereoacuity. UVI was not correlated with performance on any of the test battery items but stereoacuity correlated with performance on a test of fine hand-eye coordination and another test measuring visuomotor integration. Stereoacuity, but not UVI, is important for visuomotor performance and spatial representation in preschool children.

In a study in China (

, see also editorial, ibid: 2819–21) higher intakes of iodine were associated with increased incidence of hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis. The study …