Preterm infants who are fed human milk, supplemented with fatty acids show signs of improved intellectual development. During pregnancy, fatty acids are transferred to the fetus by placental proteins and incorporated into cell membranes. However, premature infants are relatively deprived of two fatty acids - docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid - because human milk supplies less than the fetus receives in the womb. To evaluate the effect of supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid for human milk-fed preterm infants, Norwegian researchers studied the development of 141 infants with birth weights of less than 1500 g. These infants were given 32 mg of docosahexaenoic acid and 31 mg of arachidonic acid per 100 ml of human milk, which was also fortified with proteins, minerals, vitamins, iron, and folic acid. The supplementation was started one week after birth and lasted until discharge from the hospital (on average, 9 weeks). Cognitive development was evaluated at 6 months of age. Infants with major birth defects or cerebral haemorrhage were excluded from the study. At the age of 6 months, it was found that the babies who were given extra docosahexaenoic acid/arachidonic acid tested better on recognition memory, as evidenced by lower event-related potentials recorded by electroencephalography in response to a standard repeated visual image. The findings confirmed that infants who received docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid had better problem-solving skills and discriminated better between familiar and unfamiliar objects, compared with the control group. This function is essential for focusing attention, learning, and information processing. The researchers plan to examine the subjects in later childhood to determine whether the intervention has long-term effects on cognitive function, school performance, and rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Pediatrics
June 2008
Show full article