Very premature infants are often more vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, including essential fatty acid deficiency, than healthy term infants. Their needs for higher intakes of protein and minerals than in term infants is also well known. Because of this, information on the fatty acid needs of premature infants clearly cannot be extrapolated to the needs of term gestation infants. These fatty acids are found predominately in polyunsaturated vegetable oils. 2 AA and DHA acid are formed only in animal cells.
Small amounts are present in meat and fish, and in human milk.
No adverse effects during pregnancy or lactation, or in the subsequent growth or adult life of vegetarians due to the lack of dietary AA and DHA have been noted. In the ideal situation, the lipid composition of infant formula should match human milk. Human milk, however is exceedingly sophisticated with a complex milk fat globule structure, specifically arranged fatty acid patterns and lipase enzymes, and well over 150 identified fatty acids. The variability in fatty acids is largely explained by variations in the fat composition of the mother's diet. Linoleic acid is increased by diets high in polyunsaturated fats rather than saturated or monounsaturated fats.