| Christine Thomson | |
| Thesis1 Title: | The metabolism and nutritional importance of selenium in the human population of New Zealand |
| Thesis1 Year: | 1973 |
| Doctoral Students: | Sheila Skeaff |
Christine Dumont Thomson is a New Zealand nutritionist and academic, and is professor emerita at the University of Otago. Before her retirement in 2010 she researched iodine and selenium dietary deficiencies.
Thomson completed a Bachelor and Master of Health Science and a PhD at the University of Otago.[1] Her doctoral dissertation was on the importance of selenium in the diet.[2] Thomson joined the faculty of the university in 1976, rising to full professor in 2006.[3]
Thomson's research focused on iodine and selenium in the diet, but she also had an interest in sports nutrition.[4] [5] Her interest in iodine continued a tradition of research into nutritional deficiencies at Otago, started by Charles Hercus, Noel Benson, Charles L. Carter and Muriel Bell, who showed in the 1920s that iodine deficiency in New Zealand soils was causing goitre.[6] Iodised salt became available in New Zealand in 1939, but Thomson's research in the 1990s showed that iodine deficiency was once again a problem in New Zealand. A 2002 survey of schoolchildren by colleague Sheila Skeaff showed mild iodine deficiency, and the 2008–2009 National Nutrition Survey found similar in adults. The food standards were then altered so that it became mandatory to use iodised salt in bread, and subsequent surveys have shown a decline in iodine deficiency. Thomson also researched selenium deficiency, showing that eating one brazil nut per day was sufficient to raise most New Zealander's selenium to recommended levels.
Thomson was on the editorial advisory board for the New Zealand healthy food guide.[7]
Thomson is retired from teaching and research, and was appointed professor emerita at Otago in 2010.