From Wommie's Dork-Nerd Patrol Findings: Geopolitical exploitation consequences of Iodine deficiency in poor countries.
Great snip from your link:
For just as IDD produces defects in individuals and, consequently, hierarchies among villagers, it also reinforces social stratification already existing at local, regional, and national levels. In other words, nutritional deficiency works systematically to make all the members of an endemic community—regardless of the degree of affliction in any particular individual—more vulnerable to exploitation."