Article
Fish oil supplementation improves docosahexaenoic acid status of
malnourished infants
Ella N Smita, Esther A Oelena, Ejaz Seeratc, E Rudy Boersmaa, Frits A J Muskietb
a Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology/Pediatrics, Perinatal Nutrition and
Development Unit, University Hospital Groningen, Dept CMC 5, kY3179, PO
Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands, b Department of
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Groningen, c Federal Government
Services Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Nutrition Rehabilitation
Center, Islamabad, Pakistan
Correspondence to: Dr Smit email: e.r.boersma{at}med.rug.nl
Accepted 15 February
2000
AIM
To investigate whether the low
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status of malnourished, mostly breast fed,
Pakistani children can be improved by fish oil (FO) supplementation.
METHODSTen malnourished children
(aged 8-30 months) received 500 mg FO daily for nine weeks. The
supplement contained 62.8 mol% (314 mg) long chain polyunsaturated
fatty acids of the 
3 series (LCPUFA3) and 22.5 mol% (112 mg)
DHA. Seven FO unsupplemented children served as controls. Red blood
cell (RBC) fatty acids were analysed at baseline and at the study end.
RESULTSFO supplementation
augmented mean (SD) RBC DHA from 2.27 (0.81) to 3.35 (0.76) mol%,
without significantly affecting the concentrations of LCPUFA6.
Unsupplemented children showed no RBC fatty acid changes. One FO
supplemented child with very low initial RBC arachidonic acid showed a
remarkable increase from 4.04 to 13.84 mol%, whereas another with high
RBC arachidonic acid showed a decrease from 15.64 to 10.46 mol%.
CONCLUSIONFO supplementation
improves the DHA status of malnourished children. The supplement is
apparently well absorbed and not exclusively used as a source of energy.
Keywords: erythrocyte; fish oil; long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids; malnutrition
© 2000 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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