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 .
Developmental quotient at 24 months and fatty acid composition of diet in early infancy: a follow up study
AIM A follow up study of developmental quotient ( DQ ) at 24 months of toddlers whose diets in early infancy differed in fatty acid composition , and in whom an association between diet and DQ was observed at 4 months . METHODS 81 toddlers were distributed among three groups according to early type of diet : st and ard infant formula ( SFo , n = 30 ) ; long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid ( LC-PUFA ) enriched formula ( LCPFo , n = 26 ) ; human milk ( HM , n = 25 ) . DQ at 24 months was assessed by Brunet-Lézine ’s psychomotor developmental test . A subgroup ( n = 20 ; SFo 8 ; LCPFo 6 ; HM 6 ) was tested for erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine . RESULTS No DQ differences were found by analysis of variance . Neither DQ nor erythrocyte docosahexaenoic acid at 4 months were predictors of DQ scores at 24 months . Phosphatidylcholine arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid correlated positively , and phosphatidylcholine linoleic acid and phosphatidylethanolamine eicosapentaenoic acid negatively , with DQ . Multiple regression analysis including these variables explained 52 % of interindividual DQ variance . A strong association was found between the erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine arachidonic/linoleic acid ratio and DQ ( r= 0.75 ; p = 0.0001 ) . CONCLUSIONS The diet/DQ association found at 4 months was not predictive of DQ scores at 24 months . Irrespective of dietary or genetic factors , there appears to be a strong correlation between the LC-PUFA composition of the red cell membrane and higher neurodevelopmental performance
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 .