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Docosahexanoic acid intake from food and supplement sources of pregnant women living in a non‐coastal community
Author(s) -
Campbell Christina Gayer,
Filipowicz Rebecca
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.939.9
Subject(s) - medicine , nutritionist , environmental health , dietary reference intake , pregnancy , reference daily intake , gestation , nutrient , biology , pathology , genetics , ecology
Maternal docosahexanoic acid (DHA) consumption for fetal development has become increasingly recognized. Limited data exists regarding the intake of the omega‐3 fatty acid DHA in pregnant women living in non‐coastal communities. The purpose of this analysis was to quantify total daily DHA intake from food and supplements in pregnant women living in a non‐coastal community. Sixty‐three women completed a 107‐item food frequency questionnaire between 28–35 weeks of gestation. Intake data was analyzed with Nutritionist Pro. Prenatal recommendations of 200 mg DHA/d were used as a reference. Descriptive statistics were calculated with Excel. Overall the median intake of DHA from food and supplement sources was 199 mg/d (mean ± SD; 219 ± 240 mg/d; 9–1645 mg/d). Approximately one‐third (23 of 63) of the participants reported consuming a DHA supplement. For supplement users, median intake was 321 mg/d (376 ± 300 mg/d) however the median DHA intake for the non‐supplement users was 75 mg/d (125 ± 120 mg/d). Of the 63 women, only 12 were able to meet the recommended daily intake of 200 mg/d from food alone. More than half of the women in our study living in a non‐coastal community were unable to meet current recommendations of 200 mg/d from food alone. Regardless of the dietary source more education is needed to promote prenatal DHA consumption. Grant Number P20 RR‐16455‐07 from the NCRR, a component of the NIH.