Omega 3 taken during pregnancy improves infant problem solving

Beth Krane, "Omega 3 taken during pregnancy improves infant problem
solving", University of Connecticut Advance, June 18, 2007,
Link: http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2007/070618/07061813.htm

Mothers who regularly ate a functional food containing an Omega 3
fatty acid during pregnancy gave birth to infants with better problem-
solving abilities as measured at nine months of age, according to a
new UConn study to be published in the June issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study is the first to report on problem-solving abilities during
the first year of life tied to prenatal dietary intake of
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an Omega 3 fatty acid found in
particularly high concentrations in specific regions of the brain,
including the cerebral cortex, synapses, and retinal rod
photoreceptors.

A functional food is any foodstuff that is enhanced by additives and
marketed as beneficial to health.

DHA consumption is especially important during pregnancy.

The fatty acid accumulates at a high rate during the third trimester,
as the majority of brain cells are being formed for an entire
lifetime, says Michelle Judge, a post-doctoral fellow in UConn's
School of Nursing and Department of Nutritional Sciences who is the
lead author of the study.

Yet in the United States and Canada, DHA intake during pregnancy is
far below the current generally accepted level of 300 milligrams per
day, which raises concern for infant neurodevelopment.

That concern is compounded by the fact that fetal conversion of a more
commonly consumed Omega 3 fatty acid - a-linolenic acid (LNA) - to DHA
is extremely limited, Judge says.

"Our research confirms that it is extremely important for expectant
mothers to regularly consume a direct source of DHA, ideally those
cold water marine fish that are considered safe for pregnant women or
a DHA-enhanced functional food," she says.

"Our finding of better problem-solving abilities in the group of
infants whose mothers consumed a prenatal DHA supplement supports the
idea that DHA plays an important role in the development of attention
required for infant goal-directed behavior," Judge adds, "and suggests
that DHA consumption during gestation is particularly important for
infant cognitive development."

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial involved 29
pregnant women ages 18 to 35, who were recruited through the
University and through Hartford Hospital at less than 20 weeks'
gestation.

The women were divided into two groups: One group received cereal bars
enhanced with 300 milligrams of DHA, while the other group received
cereal bars without DHA.

The women consumed an average of five cereal bars a week, beginning at
24 weeks of gestation, through delivery.

The mean dietary DHA intake for the entire group was 99 milligrams per
day. The mean DHA intake for mothers in the intervention group, which
included regular dietary intake of DHA and the DHA functional food,
was considerably higher: 313 milligrams per day.

A two-step, means-end problem-solving test was presented to all the
infants in their own homes at nine months of age, to evaluate their
ability to execute a series of steps to retrieve a toy.

The steps involved pulling a covered toy within reach and uncovering
the toy. The test was presented to the infants five times, and all
five performances were scored.

The UConn researchers found a statistically significant difference
between the problem solving abilities of the two groups, with the
infants whose mothers had consumed a DHA functional food during
pregnancy faring better.

These findings support previously published studies that have
established links between prenatal DHA consumption and/or infant DHA
consumption and improved attention and eye-hand coordination in
toddlers and higher IQ later in childhood, Judge says.

Further studies are needed to establish recommended daily allowances
of DHA for pregnant women, she adds.

Former UConn nutritional sciences professor Carol Lammi-Keefe, who is
now at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State
University, secured funding for this project from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and served as its principal investigator.

Additional support for the study came from Nestec Ltd., the UConn
Research Foundation, the National Fisheries Institute, and the
American Dietetic Association Foundation.