Open AccessDocosahexaenoic acid status at 9 months is inversely associated with communicative skills in 3‐year‐old girls
Author(s) -
Engel Sara,
Tronhjem Kathrine Marie Hagerup,
Hellgren Lars I.,
Michaelsen Kim F.,
Lauritzen Lotte
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
maternal and child nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1740-8709
pISSN - 1740-8695
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2012.00411.x
Subject(s) - psychomotor learning , medicine , docosahexaenoic acid , developmental milestone , odds ratio , pediatrics , confidence interval , psychomotor disorder , fatty acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , cognition , psychiatry , biology , biochemistry
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.