TABLE 1.
Summary of evidence on relationship between maternal omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and child development
| Exposure period & outcome | Pregnancy | Lactation | Cognitive, n | Language, n | Motor, n | Visual, n | Social-emotional, n | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort/Article | Supplement type & dose, mg/d | 2nd trimester | 3rd trimester | 0–3 postnatal mo | 3–6 postnatal mo | Age1 | Favors intervention or control2 | Favors neither2 | Favors intervention or control2 | Favors neither2 | Favors intervention or control2 | Favors neither2 | Favors intervention or control2 | Favors neither2 | Favors intervention or control2 | Favors neither2 |
| DOMInO | 800 DHA + 100 EPA | |||||||||||||||
| Makrides et al., 2010 (36) |
|
18 mo | +1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 2 | |||
| Smithers et al., 2011 (45) |
|
4 mo | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 5 | — | — | |||
| Gould et al., 2014 (26) |
|
27 mo | +2 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Makrides et al., 2014 (37) |
|
4 y | −2 | 14 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | −2 | 5 | |||
| Gould et al., 2017 (27) |
|
7 y | +1, −3 | 13 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | −1 | 0 | |||
| NUHEAL | 500 DHA + 150 EPA | |||||||||||||||
| Escolano-Margarit et al., 2011 (24) |
|
4, 5.5 y | — | — | — | — | 0 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |||
| Campoy et al., 2011 (18) |
|
6.5 y | 0 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Catena et al., 2016 (20) |
|
8.5 y | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Catena et al., 2019 (19) |
|
6.6 y | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| POSGRAD | 400 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Stein et al., 2012 (46)3 |
|
1, 3, 6 mo | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 4 | — | — | |||
| Ramakrishnan et al., 2015 (44) |
|
18 mo | 0 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 2 | |||
| Ramakrishnan et al., 2016 (43) |
|
5 y | +1 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 19 | |||
| Perth | 2200 DHA + 1100 EPA | |||||||||||||||
| Dunstan et al., 2008 (23) |
|
2.5 y | +1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 3 | |||
| Meldrum et al., 2015 (39) |
|
12 y | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 8 | |||
| KUDOS | 600 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Colombo et al., 2016 (21) |
|
4, 6, 9 mo | +3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Colombo et al., 2019 (22)4 |
|
10, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 60, 72 mo | +4 | 14 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 4 | |||
| Vancouver1 | 400 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Mulder et al., 2014(41) 5 |
|
2, 9, 12, 14, 18 mo | 0 | 1 | +5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 1 | — | — | |||
| Mulder et al., 2018 (40) |
|
5.75 y | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Pittsburgh | 450 DHA + 90 EPA + 40 DPA + 40 ETA | |||||||||||||||
| Keenan et al., 2016 (35) |
|
3 mo | — | — | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | — | +1 | 0 | |||
| Tabriz | 120 DHA + 180 EPA | |||||||||||||||
| Ostadrahimi et al., 2018 (42) |
|
4, 6 mo | 0 | 3 | +1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 2 | |||
| Vancouver2 | 400 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Innis and Friesen, 2008 (32) |
|
60 d | — | — | — | — | — | — | +1 | 1 | — | — | |||
| Glasgow | 200 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Malcolm et al., 2003 (38) |
|
1–5 d, 10 wk, 6 mo | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 8 | — | — | |||
| Kansas City | 600 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Gustafson et al., 2013 (28) |
|
1 wk | +1 | 3 | — | — | +1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 2 | |||
| Oslo | 10 mL/d cod liver oil | |||||||||||||||
| Helland, 2001 (29) |
|
6, 9 mo | 0 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Helland, 2003 (31) |
|
4 y | +1 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Helland, 2008 (30) |
|
7 y | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Gronigen | 220 mg/d DHA + 220 ARA or 220 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| van Goor et al., 2010 (47) |
|
2, 12 wk | — | — | — | — | −2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | |||
| van Goor et al., 2011 (48) |
|
18 mo | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | |||
| INFAT | 1020 DHA + 180 EPA + 9 Vitamin E | |||||||||||||||
| Brei et al., 2017 (17) |
|
4, 5 y | 0 | 2 | +1 | 2 | +1 | 5 | — | — | 0 | 2 | |||
| Houston | 200 DHA | |||||||||||||||
| Jensen et al., 2005 (34) 6 |
|
4, 8, 12 mo, 2.5 y | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 | −2 | 3 | — | — | |||
| Jensen et al., 2010 (33) |
|
5 y | +1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | — | — | |||
ARA, arachidonic acid; DOMInO, DHA to Optimize Mother and Infant Outcomes; DPA, docospentaenoic acid; ETA, eicosatetranoic acid; INFAT, The Impact of the Nutritional Fatty Acids During Pregnancy and Lactation for Early Human Adipose Tissue Development; KUDOS, Kansas University DHA Outcomes Study; NUHEAL, Nutraceuticals for a Healthier Life; POSGRAD, Prenatal Omega-3 Supplementation on Child Growth and Development.
Age of the child at outcome assessment
Favors intervention (+) or favors control (−) indicates the results were statistically significant (P < 0.05), and “favors neither” indicates no statistically significant differences between groups (P > 0.05). Details of the results, including the level of statistical significance, are reported in Supplemental Tables 4–9.
Cognitive outcomes at 1 and 3 mo; visual outcomes at 3 and 6 mo.
Language outcomes at 18, 36, 42, 48, and 60 mo; social-emotional outcomes at 36, 48, 60, and 72 mo.
Cognitive outcomes at 9 and 18 mo; language outcomes at 9, 14, and 18 mo; motor outcomes at 18 mo; visual outcomes at 2 and 12 mo.
Cognitive outcomes at 2.5 y; language and motor outcomes at 12 mo and 2.5 y; visual outcomes at 4 and 8 mo.