PUFA and LC-PUFA intake during the first year of life: can dietary practice achieve a guideline diet?

Abstract

Background: An appropriate supply of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) during early childhood may enhance cognitive development. Little attention is paid to the fatty acid (FA) supply during the complementary feeding period. We examined the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and LC-PUFAs pattern in dietary practice of two study groups and evaluated the results against the present Dietary Guidelines in Germany. Methods: The food consumption and FA pattern of dietary practice in subjects from two prospective studies (n ¼ 102 and n ¼ 184, respectively) at the age of 3, 6 and 9 months was assessed by weighed diet records, and changes during the first year of life were compared with the food-based dietary guidelines for the first year of life. Results: Dietary practice in the complementary feeding period was clearly dominated by commercial food products. The FA composition in dietary practice was different from the Guideline Diet and the ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFAs was less favorable. Consumption of breast milk or formula was still of major importance for the intake of LC-PUFAs in the complementary feeding period. Conclusion: LC-PUFAs are predominantly provided by breast milk and formula during the first year of life and consequently decrease when milk consumption decreases. For compensation, commercial complementary food might come closer to the Guideline Diet by lowering the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio through appropriate vegetable oil along with an increase in total fat content up to the legal limit.

Scientific Opinion on nutrient requirements and dietary intakes of infants and young children in the European Union

“…While the data reported from the DONALD study (Hilbig, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2010) included intakes from both breast-fed and formula-fed infants at three months of age, the data presented in the reports from the ALSPAC study (Noble and Emmett, 2006) and by Fantino and Gourmet (2008) were derived from formula-fed infants at the age of four months and one to three months, respectively. These surveys included a total of 925 infants with a range of 64 to 262 infants per study group.…”

“…There are numerous reports on the fatty acid composition of breast milk from different European countries, but information on intakes of essential fatty acids and LC-PUFAs in infants aged less than six months were available only for German infants (Hilbig, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2010). In these infants mean intakes ranged from 5.81 to 6.70 E% for LA and from 0.67 to 0.77 E% for ALA.…”

“…Data were also available from the DONALD study (Hilbig, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2010) and the ALSPAC study (Noble and Emmett, 2006).…”

“…Data were available from the German DONALD study (Hilbig, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2010) for children aged six and nine months, from the UK SWS study (Marriott et al, 2008) for children aged six months, from the ALSPAC study (Noble and Emmett, 2001) for eight-month-old infants and from a sample of children participating in the Finnish STRIP study (Lagström et al, 1997) also for eightmonth-old infants.…”

“…Bulgaria (Petrova, 1998) Ten publications assessed dietary intakes at different time points in infants and young children participating in cohort studies, i.e. the German Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study (Hilbig, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2010), the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) (Noble and Emmett, 2001;Emmett et al, 2002;Rogers et al, 2003;Noble and Emmett, 2006), the UK Southampton Women's Survey (SWS) (Marriott et al, 2008;Marriott et al, 2009), and the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) study (Kyttälä et al, 2008;Kyttälä et al, 2010).…”