Omega 3 taken during pregnancy improves infant problem solving

Mothers who regularly ate a functional food containing an Omega 3 fatty acid during pregnancy gave birth to infants with better problem-solving abilities as measured at nine months of age, according to a new UConn study to be published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study is the first to report on problem-solving abilities during the first year of life tied to prenatal dietary intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an Omega 3 fatty acid found in particularly high concentrations in specific regions of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, synapses, and retinal rod photoreceptors.

A functional food is any foodstuff that is enhanced by additives and marketed as beneficial to health.

DHA consumption is especially important during pregnancy.

The fatty acid accumulates at a high rate during the third trimester, as the majority of brain cells are being formed for an entire lifetime, says Michelle Judge, a post-doctoral fellow in UConn’s School of Nursing and Department of Nutritional Sciences who is the lead author of the study.

Yet in the United States and Canada, DHA intake during pregnancy is far below the current generally accepted level of 300 milligrams per day, which raises concern for infant neurodevelopment.

That concern is compounded by the fact that fetal conversion of a more commonly consumed Omega 3 fatty acid – a-linolenic acid (LNA) – to DHA is extremely limited, Judge says.

“Our research confirms that it is extremely important for expectant mothers to regularly consume a direct source of DHA, ideally those cold water marine fish that are considered safe for pregnant women or a DHA-enhanced functional food,” she says.

“Our finding of better problem-solving abilities in the group of infants whose mothers consumed a prenatal DHA supplement supports the idea that DHA plays an important role in the development of attention required for infant goal-directed behavior,” Judge adds, “and suggests that DHA consumption during gestation is particularly important for infant cognitive development.”

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial involved 29 pregnant women ages 18 to 35, who were recruited through the University and through Hartford Hospital at less than 20 weeks’ gestation.