There is no evidence that PUFA supplementation in infancy has an effect on infant or childhood allergy , asthma , dermatitis/eczema or food allergy .
However , the quality of evidence was very low .
There was insufficient evidence to determine an effect on allergic rhinitis
BACKGROUND Early dietary intakes may influence the development of allergic disease .
It is important to determine if dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs ) given as supplements or added to infant formula prevent the development of allergy .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of higher PUFA intake during infancy to prevent allergic disease .
Diet and the essential fatty acid status of term infants
Long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids with 20 and 22 carbon atoms ( LCPs ) seem to play an important role during the rapid development of the infant brain in the late fetal and early postnatal period . These LCPs are integral constituents of biological membranes and they are involved in the regulation of functional properties like fluidity , permeability and activity of membrane‐bound enzymes . Human milk contains LCPs in an amount of 0.5–3 wt% of total fatty acids , whereas commercially available infant formulae are almost free of them . Recently , several clinical trials , primarily with preterm infants , have reported that the content of LCPs in the blood and a functional parameter like visual acuity correlate with the content of LCPs in the diet . In this clinical trial we studied the effect of different diets on the fatty acid pattern of plasma and erythrocyte lipids of healthy term infants during the first 3 months of life . Breast‐fed infants were compared with formula‐fed babies who received a commercially available formula without LCPs or a new experimental formula enriched with LCPs that was similar to human milk . The results indicate that the introduction of milk feeding leads to marked differences in the blood lipid composition during the first months of life , independent of the feeding regimen . Secondly , the supplementation of a formula with LCPs seems to result in a blood lipid composition similar to infants fed with human milk . This supports the hypothesis that the newborn term infant has a limited desaturating capacity and depends on an exogenous supply of LCPs during the first months of life
There is no evidence that PUFA supplementation in infancy has an effect on infant or childhood allergy , asthma , dermatitis/eczema or food allergy .
However , the quality of evidence was very low .
There was insufficient evidence to determine an effect on allergic rhinitis
BACKGROUND Early dietary intakes may influence the development of allergic disease .
It is important to determine if dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs ) given as supplements or added to infant formula prevent the development of allergy .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of higher PUFA intake during infancy to prevent allergic disease .