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 .
Docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid enhance growth with no adverse effects in preterm infants fed formula.
OBJECTIVE To determine if docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) and arachidonic acid ( ARA ) supplementation influences growth or visual acuity of formula-fed premature infants . STUDY DESIGN Double-blind , multi-center study of 194 premature infants given preterm formula with no DHA or ARA ( control ) , 0.15 % energy DHA , or 0.14 % DHA + 0.27 % ARA from single-cell triglycerides for at least 28 days and then fed term formula ( no DHA or ARA ) to 57 weeks postmenstrual age ( PMA ) , with 90 breast-fed term infants as reference . RESULTS Infants fed DHA+ARA formula  gained weight significantly faster ( post-hoc analysis ) during preterm formula feeding than control infants ( 34.7 vs. 30.7 g/d ) and had weights and weight : length ratios not different from term breast-fed infants at 48 and 57 weeks PMA . Infants fed control or DHA formula had lower body weights than term infants . Red blood cell phosphatidylethanolamine ARA was significantly correlated to weight gain during preterm formula feeding and to weight and length at 40 , 48 , and 57 weeks PMA ( r = 0.19 to 0.24 , P = .004-.02 ) . Providing DHA or DHA+ARA during the preterm period had no effect on subsequent visual acuity or incidence of adverse events . CONCLUSIONS Feeding DHA+ARA from single-cell triglycerides enhances weight gain in formula-fed premature infants with no evidence of adverse effects
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 .