Fatty fish intake, n ‐3 fatty acids and self‐rated health in middle‐aged adults

Background – Since n‐ 3 fatty acids, abundant in fatty fish, may improve health, we raised the question whether self‐reported intake frequency of fatty fish (FF) might be related to the percentage of n‐ 3 fatty acids in serum phospholipids (PL‐ n‐ 3), and also to self‐rated health (H). Design – The study followed a cross‐sectional design. Methods – In the cross‐sectional Oslo Health Study, PL‐ n‐ 3 were determined in 121 middle‐aged ethnic Norwegians and 102 immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and correlated with FF and H. Logistic regression was used to study the relationship between PL‐ n‐ 3 and H (dichotomized, i.e. Poor vs. Good health). Results – FF correlated positively with PL20:5 n‐ 3 (PL‐EPA, r  = 0.467, p  <0.001) and PL22:6 n‐ 3 (PL‐DHA, r  = 0.499, p  <0.001), and negatively with PL20:4 n‐ 6 (PL‐AA, r  = –0.350, p  = 0.001). H was positively associated with PL‐EPA ( r  = 0.321, p  <0.001) and PL‐DHA ( r  = 0.275; p  <0.001), but negatively with PL‐AA ( r  = –0.220, p  = 0.001). The odds ratio for reporting Poor vs. Good health was significantly higher in subjects with low levels of PL‐EPA (OR = 1.49; 95% confidence interval = 1.17–1.89, p  = 0.001), persisting after adjusting for sex, physical activity, ethnicity and length of education. Conclusion – The intake frequency of fatty fish is related to n‐ 3 fatty acids in the serum phospholipids, and to self‐rated health.