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 .
Fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocytes in term infants fed human milk and formulae with and without docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids from egg yolk lecithin.
Human milk contains small but nutritionally significant amounts of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ( LCP ) , such as arachidonic ( AA , 20:4n-6 ) and docosahexaenoic ( DHA , 22:6n-3 ) acids , which are not present in most infant formulae . In the present study , the fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocytes was determined at birth and again at 7 days , 1 and 3 months in 49 healthy full-term infants ( 37 - 42 week 's gestation ) . One group of infants was fed exclusively with human milk ( n=16 ) and the others were r and omly assigned to a st and ard term formula ( F ) ( n=15 ) or the same formula with egg yolk lecithin providing DHA ( 0.15 % ) and AA ( 0.30 % ) ( LCP-F ) ( n=18 ) . Plasma and erythrocyte LCP values of the three dietary groups did not differ at 7 days of age , but the contents of DHA and AA in plasma and erythrocytes at 1 and 3 months were significantly lower ( P<0.05 ) in infants fed non supplemented formula than in infants fed breast milk and supplemented formula . There were no differences in plasma or erythrocyte AA or DHA concentrations between the group fed breast milk and the group fed supplemented formula during the period studied
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 .