Table 1.

Fatty acids (wt% of total fatty acids) in cord plasma of 3368 children of white ethnic origin^*

(Medians, interquartile ranges (IQR) and standard deviations)

Fatty acid	Median	IQR	SD
Saturates	46·38	41·60–49·39	4·92
Monounsaturates	26·82	24·93–28·90	3·14
n-6
18:2	9·74	8·65–11·03	2·11
18:3	0·35	0·26–0·74	0·95
20:2	0·29	0·25–0·34	0·11
20:3	2·64	2·20–3·07	0·63
20:4	8·92	7·15–11·49	2·77
22:4	0·41	0·33–0·52	0·14
22:5	0·47	0·35–0·62	0·21
n-3
18:3	0·14	0·11–0·18	0·07
20:5	0·19	0·14–0·25	0·10
22:5	0·20	0·15–0·27	0·11
22:6	2·43	1·84–3·42	1·18

^*The sample reflects observations where genetic data are present for at least one polymorphism. All fatty acids showed evidence of skewness (P< 0·001) although the IQR suggested that the deviations from symmetry were minor for some outcomes.