title: A randomized controlled trial of early dietary supply of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and mental development in term infants.
abstract: The effects of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supply during infancy on later cognitive development of healthy term infants were evaluated in a randomized clinical trial of infant formula milk supplemented with 0.35% DHA or with 0.36% DHA and 0.72% arachidonic acid (AA), or control formula which provided no DHA or AA. Fifty-six 18-month-old children (26 male, 30 female) who were enrolled in the trial within the first 5 days of life and fed the assigned diet to 17 weeks of age were tested using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 2nd edition (BSID-II) (Bayley 1993) at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, TX. These children had also been assessed at 4 months and 12 months of age for blood fatty-acid composition, sweep visual evoked potential (VEP) acuity, and forced-choice preferential looking (FPL) acuity (Birch et al. 1998). Supplementation of infant formula with DHA+AA was associated with a mean increase of 7 points on the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the BSID-II. Both the cognitive and motor subscales of the MDI showed a significant developmental age advantage for DHA- and DHA+AA-supplemented groups over the control group. While a similar trend was found for the language subscale, it did not reach statistical significance. Neither the Psychomotor Development Index nor the Behavior Rating Scale of the BSID-II showed significant differences among diet groups, consistent with a specific advantage of DHA supplementation on mental development. Significant correlations between plasma and RBC-DHA at 4 months of age but not at 12 months of age and MDI at 18 months of age suggest that early dietary supply of DHA was a major dietary determinant of improved performance on the MDI.
authors.affiliation: Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, TX 75231, USA. ebirch@retinafoundation.org
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garfield
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uauy
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Birch
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D016718:Arachidonic Acid