Abstract
The first 12 months of life is by far the most rapid growth period during the entire life span. The birth weight of a healthy term infant typically doubles in 4 months and nearly triples in 12 months (1). Therefore, an infant who weighs 3.5 kg at birth will weigh 7.0 kg at 4 months of age and 9.6 kg at 12 months of age. After the exceptional initial growth period, gains in body weight and length moderate and become linear for the next few years. In addition to physical growth, the infant passes many developmental milestones as well. During the first year of life motor development progresses from rolling over to crawling to standing (2), and more subtle advances also occur such as rapid maturation of visual acuity (3).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
WHO. WHO child growth standards. [cited 4 April 2012]; Available from: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/en/.
WHO. WHO motor development study: windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones. Acta Paediatr. 2006;S450:86–95.
Teller DY, Movshon JA. Visual development. Vision Res. 1986;26(9):1483–506.
WHO. Infant and young child nutrition. Vol. 54.2. Geneva: Fifty-Fourth World Health Assembly; 2001.
WHO. Report of the expert consultation on the optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2002.
Agostoni C, Decsi T, Fewtrell M, Goulet O, Kolacek S, Koletzko B, et al., ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. Complementary feeding: a commentary by the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2008;46(1):99–110.
USDA. Infant nutrition and feeding. Alexandria, VA: United States Department of Agriculture; 2009.
AAP. Complementary feeding. In: Kleinman RE, editor. Pediatric nutrition handbook. American Academy of Pediatrics:; 2004. p. 103–15.
Stinson AM, Wiegand RD, Anderson RE. Fatty acid and molecular species compositions of phospholipids and diacylglycerols from rat retinal membranes. Exp Eye Res. 1991;52(2):213–8.
Clandinin MT, Chappell JE, Leong S, Heim T, Swyer PR, Chance GW. Extrauterine fatty acid accretion in infant brain: implications for fatty acid requirements. Early Hum Dev. 1980;4(2):131–8.
Lands WE. Biochemistry and physiology of n-3 fatty acids. FASEB J. 1992;6(8):2530–6.
Yuhas R, Pramuk K, Lien EL. Human milk fatty acid composition from nine countries varies most in DHA. Lipids. 2006;41(9):851–8.
Putnam JC, Carlson SE, DeVoe PW, Barness LA. The effect of variations in dietary fatty acids on the fatty acid composition of erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in human infants. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982;36(1):106–14.
Makrides M, Neumann MA, Jeffrey B, Lien EL, Gibson RA. A randomized trial of different ratios of linoleic to alpha-linolenic acid in the diet of term infants: effects on visual function and growth. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71(1):120–9.
Pawlosky RJ, Hibbeln JR, Novotny JA, Salem Jr N. Physiological compartmental analysis of alpha-linolenic acid metabolism in adult humans. J Lipid Res. 2001;42(8):1257–65.
Gibson RA, Neumann MA, Lien EL, Boyd KA, Tu WC. Docosahexaenoic acid synthesis from alpha-linolenic acid is inhibited by diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2012 Apr 17. [Epub ahead of print]
Hoffman DR, Boettcher JA, Diersen-Schade DA. Toward optimizing vision and cognition in term infants by dietary docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid supplementation: a review of randomized controlled trials. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2009;81(2–3):151–8.
Lien EL, Hammond BR. Nutritional influences on visual development and function. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2011;30(3):188–203.
AAP. Formula feeding of term infants. In: Kleinman RE, editor. Pediatric nutrition handbook. American Academy of Pediatrics:; 2004. p. 87–97.
Hoffman DR, Birch EE, Castañeda YS, Fawcett SL, Wheaton DH, Birch DG, Uauy R. Visual function in breast-fed term infants weaned to formula with or without long-chain polyunsaturates at 4 to 6 months: a randomized clinical trial. J Pediatr. 2003;142(6):669–77.
Hoffman DR, Theuer RC, Castañeda YS, Wheaton DH, Bosworth RG, O’Connor AR, et al. Maturation of visual acuity is accelerated in breast-fed term infants fed baby food containing DHA-enriched egg yolk. J Nutr. 2004;134(9):2307–13.
Chandna A. Natural history of the development of visual acuity in infants. Eye (Lond). 1991;5(Pt 1):20–6.
Van Elswyk ME. Comparison of n-3 fatty acid sources in laying hen rations for improvement of whole egg nutritional quality: a review. Br J Nutr. 1997;78 Suppl 1:S61–9.
Ervin RB, Wright JD, Wang CY, Kennedy-Stephenson J. Dietary intake of fats and fatty acids for the United States population: 1999–2000. Adv Data. 2004;348:1–6.
Minns LM, Kerling EH, Neely MR, Sullivan DK, Wampler JL, Harris CL, et al. Toddler formula supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) improves DHA status and respiratory health in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of US children less than 3 years of age. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2010;82(4–6):287–93.
Marks GB, Mihrshahi S, Kemp AS, Tovey ER, Webb K, Almqvist C, et al. Prevention of asthma during the first 5 years of life: a randomized controlled trial. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006;118(1):53–61.
De Vizia B, Raia V, Spano C, Pavlidis C, Coruzzo A, Alessio M. Effect of an 8-month treatment with omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic) in patients with cystic fibrosis. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2003;27(1):52–7.
Yaqoob P, Calder PC. Fatty acids and immune function: new insights into mechanisms. Br J Nutr. 2007;98 Suppl 1:S41–5.
FAO. Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization, WHO; 2010.
AFSSA. de l’Agence francaise de securite sanitaire des aliments relatif a l’actualisation des apports nutritionnels conselles pour les acides gras. Hearing publication n2006-SA-0359; 2010. p. 1–10.
Recommandations nutrtionnelles pour la Belgique. Bruxxelles: Conseil superieur de la Sante; 2009.
EFSA. Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for fats, including saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids and cholesterol. EFSA Journal. 2010;8:1461–568.
Ministry of Health, A. Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand including recommended dietary intakes; 2006.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lien, E.L. (2013). DHA in the Second 6 Months of Life. In: De Meester, F., Watson, R., Zibadi, S. (eds) Omega-6/3 Fatty Acids. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-215-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-215-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-214-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-215-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)