DHA supplements boost breast-fed children - study
(DHA) for the first four months of breastfeeding were found to
perform better in attention tests than those whose mothers were
not, according to research sponsored by Martek, a US-based producer
of DHA.
The figures, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies' Meeting in San Francisco, showed that five-year-old children whose mothers received a 200mg dose of Martek's DHA for the first 4 months of breastfeeding those children whose mothers received a placebo.
DHA is an essential fatty acid naturally present in breast milk, and is said to be a key building block of the developing infant's brain and visual system. It is also increasingly investigated for its ability to promote mental and cardiovascular health.
In the study, conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, 174 mothers received either dietary supplements of DHA or a placebo. Their breastfed children were assessed for several visual and mental functions at 4, 8, 12, 18, 30 and 60 months of age.
The researchers report that at 60 months, or five years of age, the children whose mothers received DHA for the first four months of breastfeeding demonstrated an attention advantage, using the Sustained Attention Subtest of the Leiter International Performance Scale.
The same researchers had earlier reported (in April 2001) that the children whose mothers received DHA supplementation demonstrated enhanced psychomotor development at 30 months of age. The researchers did not notice similar effects on psychomotor development at five years, leading them to conclude that the earlier results may reflect more sustained attention rather than better motor function.
Demand for omega-3 fatty acids has surged in recent months on the back of increasing scientific evidence for its health benefits. Studies show that that intake of these fats can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and related cardiovascular events. Omega-3 fatty acids also play an important role in mental health - they are increasingly added to infant formula to promote brain development - and evidence suggests that they could reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease.
"These results are the most recent in a series of studies that demonstrate the importance of DHA in the development of infants and children," commented Henry Linsert, Jr., chairman and CEO of Martek Biosciences. "Martek supports breastfeeding as the preferred method of infant feeding and encourages women to supply the best nutrition possible to their infants."
That said, Martek also supplies DHA to the majority of the world's infant formula makers, including Nestlé and Mead Johnson.
The group recently signed a deal with Dutch firm Vegetable Seed Oil Products (VSP) to supply its DHA to European dietary supplement makers having gained novel foods approval from the European authorities.
Martek's DHA Gold was the only plant-sourced DHA marketed in the European Union until a rival product, DHActive from Germany's Nutrinova, was granted the same novel foods approval last year - a move which prompted the US group to take legal action against its rival on the grounds of patent infringement.
Both products are manufactured through a fermentation process but Martek claims that Nutrinova's manufacture and sale of DHActive infringes its patent rights. Martek filed a similar suit in the United States, where both products became available first, in September 2003.
While most omega-3s are consumed from fish products, Martek and Nutrinova promote the vegetarian aspect of their products, which are currently the only plant-sourced DHAs that can be marketed in the European Union.
