Original ArticlesAre human milk long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids related to visual and neural development in breast-fed term infants?☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Methods
Term infants with birth weights of 2500 to 4500 g were enrolled within 2 weeks of birth. To meet the criteria for participation, the mothers were required to intend to breast-feed their infant without providing infant formula or cow’s milk for at least 3 months and without introducing solid foods for at least the first 4 months after birth. Mothers with substance abuse, communicable diseases, metabolic or physiologic problems, infections likely to influence fetal growth, or multiple births and
Infant participants
A total of 83 infants were enrolled, with a mean (± standard error of mean) birth weight of 3578 ± 75 g (n = 39) and 3520 ± 51 g (n = 44) for the male and female infants, respectively. The mean (± standard error of the mean) maternal age was 32.2 ± 0.5 years. Six infants were withdrawn at or before 2 months of age; of these, 3 had been given infant formula, and 3 were withdrawn because the parents did not keep the first 2-month appointment. Data on growth were not obtained for 2 infants, and
Discussion
Large amounts of DHA accumulate in the brain during the last trimester of gestation and the first 2 years after birth.25 Although studies with premature infants concur that a dietary supply of DHA facilitates early development of visual acuity,6 the evidence for a role of DHA in term infants is conflicting. Makrides et al26 reported that visual evoked potential acuity was significantly related to RBC DHA among a group of term breast-fed and formula-fed infants. Subsequent randomized trials have
Acknowledgements
We particularly thank Nancy Auestad, Ross Laboratories for monitoring the study and its procedures, Murray J. MacKinnon for statistical analysis, Janette D. King for technical assistance, and Ellen MacKay, Paula Walsen, and Vivian Lau for their clinical assistance.
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Supported by grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) of Canada and Ross Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio.
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Reprint requests: Sheila M. Innis, PhD, B.C. Research Institute for Children’s and Women’s Health, 950 West 28th Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 4H4, Canada.