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Docosahexaenoic acid status at 9 months is inversely associated with communicative skills in 3-year-old girls.

ABSTRACT: The objective of the present observational study was to investigate if the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status assessed in infant erythrocytes (RBC) at 9 months was associated with the age when the infants reach developmental milestones and their psychomotor function at 3 years of age. Three hundred eleven healthy Danish children were followed from 9 months to 3 years of age (the SKOT cohort). RBC fatty acid composition was analysed by gas chromatography in 272 of the children. Milestone age was collected by questionnaires at 9 and 18 months and psychomotor development at 3 years of age was assessed by the parents using third edition of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). RBC DHA levels ranged from 2.2% to 12.6% of the RBC fatty acids. The age of reaching milestones correlated with psychomotor development, particularly with gross motor function at 3 years. An association between milestones and later personal and social skills was also observed, but only for girls. In girls, RBC-DHA was found to be inversely correlated with communication at 3 years of age (odds ratio = 0.69, 95% confidence interval: 0.56-0.86, P = 0.001), but no other associations with psychomotor development or milestones were found. The results from study indicate that DHA status at 9 months may not have a pronounced beneficial effect on psychomotor development in early childhood and that communicative skills at 3 years of age may even be inversely associated with early RBC-DHA levels in girls.

SUBMITTER: Engel S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6860840 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Docosahexaenoic acid status at 9 months is inversely associated with communicative skills in 3-year-old girls.

Engel Sara S Tronhjem Kathrine Marie Hagerup KM Hellgren Lars I LI Michaelsen Kim F KF Lauritzen Lotte L

Maternal & child nutrition 20120529 4

The objective of the present observational study was to investigate if the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status assessed in infant erythrocytes (RBC) at 9 months was associated with the age when the infants reach developmental milestones and their psychomotor function at 3 years of age. Three hundred eleven healthy Danish children were followed from 9 months to 3 years of age (the SKOT cohort). RBC fatty acid composition was analysed by gas chromatography in 272 of the children. Milestone age was c ...[more]

PMID: 22642227

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Project description:n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids improve cardiovascular risk markers in adults. These effects may differ between eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20∶5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22∶6n-3), but we lack evidence in children. Using baseline data from the OPUS School Meal Study we 1) investigated associations between EPA and DHA in whole blood and early cardiometabolic risk markers in 713 children aged 8-11 years and 2) explored potential mediation through waist circumference and physical activity and potential dietary confounding. We collected data on parental education, pubertal stage, 7-day dietary records, physical activity by accelerometry and measured anthropometry, blood pressure, and heart rate. Blood samples were analyzed for whole blood fatty acid composition, cholesterols, triacylglycerol, insulin resistance by the homeostatic model of assessment (HOMA-IR), and inflammatory markers. Whole blood EPA was associated with a 2.7 mmHg (95% CI 0.4; 5.1) higher diastolic blood pressure per weight% EPA, but only in boys. Heart rate was negatively associated with both EPA and DHA status (P = 0.02 and P = 0.002, respectively). Whole blood EPA was negatively associated with triacylglycerol (P = 0.003) and positively with total cholesterol, low density and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and HDL:triacylglycerol (all P<0.01) whereas DHA was negatively associated with insulin and HOMA-IR (P = 0.003) and tended to be negatively associated with a metabolic syndrome-score (P = 0.05). Adjustment for waist circumference and physical activity did not change the associations. The association between DHA and HOMA-IR was attenuated but remained after adjustment for fiber intake and none of the other associations were confounded by dietary fat, protein, fiber or energy intake. This study showed that EPA status was negatively associated with triacylglycerol and positively with cholesterols whereas DHA was negatively associated with insulin resistance, and both were inversely associated with heart rate in children. The sex-specific associations with blood pressure confirm our previous findings and warrant further investigation.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Postural stability is one of the determinants of proper body posture and a condition for developing motor abilities in every human being. The measurement of the centre of pressure (COP) location and displacement is the most common technique of postural stability assessment. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to assess differences in postural stability depending on sex of 5-year-old children with different body heights. METHODS:A study included 435 healthy children (200 girls and 235 boys) born in 2010 whose parents gave a written consent to their participation in the project. Postural stability was assessed with the use of the dynamographic platform (Zebris FDM 1.8). The assessment of postural stability was based on COP shift parameters (sway path length of COP and average velocity of COP) and COP surface area parameters (area of the ellipse, length of ellipse in the anterior-posterior direction and length of the ellipse in the medial-lateral direction). Body height was measured with Holtein anthropometer and the obtained values were compared with percentile ranks determined by the WHO. RESULTS:The analysis of the parameters describing postural stability in the examined children revealed dimorphism. For the COP shift parameters and COP surface area parameters, the level of statistical significance was recorded for girls and boys. Girls achieved lower results of these parameters than boys regardless of their body height. In the groups of normal- and tall-statured children, differences between the genders were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS:The present study characterised sex differences in postural stability of 5-year-old children. Sex-related differences were found during a natural stance for all COP parameters. Girls maintained a two-legged standing position with lower sway velocity and a smaller range of sway than their male counterparts. Normal- and tall-statured girls demonstrated better postural stability significantly more often than boys.

Project description:Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) have in some studies been associated with cognitive and socioemotional outcomes in children, but results are inconsistent possibly due to the use of different tests and potential gender-specific effects. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore overall patterns in neuropsychological scores as well as correlations between scores within specific domains, and to examine potential gender differences and consistency in associations with n-3 LCPUFA status. In 199 Danish 8-9 year-old children, we performed a large battery of tests and questionnaires on attention, processing speed, executive functions, memory, and socioemotional traits, and measured erythrocyte fatty acid composition. Principal component analyses (PCA) showed that most of the variation in both cognitive performance and socioemotional traits was explained by overall performance, followed by speed-accuracy trade off and externalizing vs. internalizing problems, respectively. Boys had higher speed, lower attention and higher externalizing problem scores than girls. Measures of performance within both processing speed and attention domains correlated moderately, whereas no correlations were found for measures of executive functions apart from some weak correlations for impulsivity. Parent-rated scores for both externalizing and internalizing problems correlated strongly, whereas correlations with child-rated scores were weak. Scores within specific domains did not consistently associate with n-3 LCPUFA, except for processing speed measures which all pointed to faster processing with increased n-3 LCPUFA status. Gender differences in the associations were observed for attention and impulsivity. Child- but not parent-rated internalizing and social problems tended to associate directly with n-3 LCPUFA, supported by increased internalizing problems measured by the PCA component. In conclusion, measures of speed and attention seem to represent these domains in general, whereas single measures of more complex cognitive functions should be interpreted with caution. One approach could be to use multiple tests and create multivariate scores to guide interpretations. Furthermore, the results indicate a need to consider both parent- and child-rated socioemotional scores and gender differences in neuropsychological functions e.g. in investigations of n-3 LCPUFA effects.

Dataset Information

Docosahexaenoic acid status at 9 months is inversely associated with communicative skills in 3-year-old girls.

Publications

Docosahexaenoic acid status at 9 months is inversely associated with communicative skills in 3-year-old girls.

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