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 .
Effect of increasing breast milk docosahexaenoic acid on plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid fatty acids and neural indices of exclusively breast fed infants
Objectives : To determine the effect of increasing docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA , 22 : 6 n-3 ) in breast milk on infant fatty acid profiles . A secondary aim was to examine aspects of neural development . Design and Setting Double blind , placebo controlled study of infants recruited from postnatal wards at Flinders Medical Centre . Subjects : Fifty-two healthy term infants who were breast fed for at least 12 weeks and were from middle class families . Intervention : Breast milk with DHA concentrations that ranged from 0.1–1.7 % of total fatty acids . This was achieved by supplementation of the maternal diet for the first 12 weeks post partum . Results : Breast milk DHA was related to infant plasma ( r=0.89 , P<0.001 ) and erythrocyte ( r=0.88 , P<0.001 ) phospholipids in a saturable curvilinear manner so that breast milk DHA above 0.8 % of total fatty acids result ed in little further increase in infant plasma or erythrocyte DHA levels . The rise in plasma and erythrocyte DHA was approximated by a fall in total n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids . We could detect no relationship between visual evoked potential acuity ( measured at 12 and 16 weeks ) of infants by either the dietary grouping or the DHA status of individuals . A stepwise multiple regression showed that infant erythrocyte DHA at 12 weeks and home stimulation were the only independent factors associated with Bayley 's MDI at 1 y ( adjusted model r2=0.18 , P<0.005 ) ; while at 2 y gender and social score of the spouse were the only significant predictors of Bayley 's MDI ( adjusted model r2=0.22 , P<0.005 ) . Conclusions : Increasing breast milk DHA levels caused a dose dependent saturable increase in infant plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid DHA . There were no long-term effects of infant DHA status on indices of neurodevelopment . Sponsorship : Financial support was provided by Martek Biosciences , MD , USA and the National Health and Medical Research Council , Australia
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 .