These findings demonstrate that thyroid antibody positivity in children was significantly associated with maternal autoimmunity and their development in girls emerges at puberty. Since heredity, female gender, and puberty are strongly associated with TA, girls in families with TA should be examined at the onset of puberty.

In healthy Greek children living in an iodine-replete area, the main determinants of TV in both boys and girls were age, BSA, and pubertal stage. The prevalence of goiter was 3.2% and that of altered echostructure was 9.2%.