Abstract

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.

METHODS Ten 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 ω3 series (LCPUFAω3) 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.

RESULTS FO supplementation augmented mean (SD) RBC DHA from 2.27 (0.81) to 3.35 (0.76) mol%, without significantly affecting the concentrations of LCPUFAω6. 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%.

CONCLUSION FO supplementation improves the DHA status of malnourished children. The supplement is apparently well absorbed and not exclusively used as a source of energy.