Mulder Kelly A, Dyer Roger A, Elango Rajavel, Innis Sheila M
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2022 Jun 16;6(7):nzac099. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzac099. eCollection 2022 Jul.
Early childhood is a period of rapid brain development, with increases in synapses rich in the omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acid, DHA (22:6ω-3) continuing well beyond infancy. Despite the importance of DHA to neural phospholipids, the requirement of dietary DHA for neurodevelopment remains unclear.
The aim was to assess the dietary DHA and DHA status of young children, and determine the association with cognitive performance.
This was a cross-sectional study of healthy children (5-6 y), some of whom were enrolled in a follow-up of a clinical trial (NCT00620672). Dietary intake data (= 285) were assessed with a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and three 24-h recalls. Family characteristics were collected by questionnaire, and anthropometric data measured. Venous blood was collected, cognitive performance assessed using several age-appropriate tools including the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. The relation between dietary DHA, RBC DHA, and child neurodevelopment test scores was determined using Pearson's correlation or Spearman's rho, and quintiles of test scores compared by Mann-Whitney test.
Child DHA intakes were highly variable, with a stronger association between RBC DHA and DHA intake assessed by FFQ (rho = 0.383, < 0.001) compared with one or three 24-h recalls. Observed ethnic differences in DHA intake status as well as neurodevelopmental test scores led to analysis of the association between DHA intake and status with neurodevelopment test scores for White children only ( = 190). Child RBC DHA status was associated with neurodevelopment test scores, including language (rho = 0.211, = 0.009) and short-term memory (rho = 0.187, = 0.019), but only short-term memory was associated with dietary DHA (rho = 0.221, = 0.003).
Child RBC DHA but not dietary DHA was associated with multiple tests of cognitive performance. In addition, DHA intake was only moderately associated with RBC DHA, raising complex questions on the relation between diet, DHA transfer to membrane lipids, and neural function.
幼儿期是大脑快速发育的时期，富含ω-3脂肪酸二十二碳六烯酸（DHA，22:6ω-3）的突触增加，这种情况在婴儿期之后仍会持续很长时间。尽管DHA对神经磷脂很重要，但饮食中DHA对神经发育的需求仍不明确。
评估幼儿的膳食DHA及DHA状态，并确定其与认知能力的关系。
这是一项针对健康儿童（5 - 6岁）的横断面研究部分儿童参与了一项临床试验的随访（NCT00620672）。通过食物频率问卷（FFQ）和三次24小时膳食回顾来评估膳食摄入数据（n = 285）。通过问卷收集家庭特征，并测量人体测量数据。采集静脉血，使用包括考夫曼儿童评估量表在内的几种适合儿童年龄的工具评估认知能力。使用Pearson相关性分析或Spearman秩相关分析来确定膳食DHA、红细胞DHA与儿童神经发育测试分数之间的关系，并通过Mann-Whitney检验比较测试分数的五分位数。
儿童的DHA摄入量差异很大，与一次或三次24小时膳食回顾相比，通过FFQ评估的红细胞DHA与DHA摄入量之间的相关性更强（rho = 0.383，P < 0.001）。观察到的DHA摄入状态以及神经发育测试分数的种族差异，导致仅对白种儿童（n = 190）的DHA摄入量与状态和神经发育测试分数之间的关联进行分析。儿童红细胞DHA状态与神经发育测试分数相关，包括语言能力（rho = 0.211，P = 0.009）和短期记忆（rho = 0.187，P = 0.019），但只有短期记忆与膳食DHA相关（rho = 0.221，P = 0.003）。
儿童红细胞DHA而非膳食DHA与多项认知能力测试相关。此外，DHA摄入量与红细胞DHA仅呈中度相关，这就饮食、DHA向膜脂的转移以及神经功能之间的关系提出了复杂的问题。
