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 .
A Randomized Controlled Intervention With Fish Oil Versus Sunflower Oil From 9 to 18 Months of Age: Exploring Changes in Growth and Skinfold Thicknesses
n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ( n-3 LCPUFA ) , from fish oil ( FO ) , in rodents have been shown to reduce adipogenesis . Evidence of an effect on adipose tissue mass in humans is limited , and no studies have specifically aim ed to eluci date this in infancy . To explore whether n-3 LCPUFA intake affects adipose tissue growth , we r and omly allocated 154 healthy infants to daily supplementation with FO or sunflower oil ( SO ) from 9 to 18 mo of age and measured z-score changes in various anthropometric assessment s of body size and skinfold thicknesses and plasma adipokine concentrations . Among the 133 completing infants , erythrocyte n-3 PUFA increased more in those receiving FO than in infants receiving SO [ 12.2 ± 0.7 ( mean ± SE ) versus 2.0 ± 0.4 fatty acid percentage ( FA% ) , p < 0.001 ] with a concomitant larger decrease in n-6 PUFA ( −8.9 ± 0.7 versus −0.9 ± 0.6 FA% , p < 0.001 ) . We found no association between FO  consumption relative to  SO consumption and any of the anthropometric measures related to the size of the fat mass , but infants in the FO group had a lower skinfold ratio ( triceps/subscapular ) at 18 mo than those in SO group ( p = 0.02 ) . Our findings do not support the hypothesis that dietary n-3 LCPUFA is important for infant fat mass , but future studies testing this specifically are warranted
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 .