By Simone Du Toit. Omega-3 fatty acids, available in fish oil supplements and naturally occurring in eggs and oily fish, may help babies born small to decrease their risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, a University of Sydney study has found.
The study, published in Pediatrics, followed 616 babies from birth up to eight years of age. One group received a 500 mg daily fish oil supplement from the start of bottle-feeding, or six months of age, until five years of age, as well as canola-based margarines and cooking oil. The control group received a 500 mg daily sunflower oil supplement for the same period, as well as omega-6 fatty acid-rich margarines and cooking oil.
Babies who are small at birth, that is in the lowest 10% of all babies born in Australia, have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. According to one of the study authors, this is partly due to the development, from early childhood, of arterial wall thickening which is an indicator of early atherosclerosis and associated with later cardiovascular disease.
At eight-years of age the researchers found children receiving the sunflower supplement had thicker arterial walls if they were small at birth. This was prevented in the children receiving the omega-3 supplement.
"The results of the paper suggest that babies born small may benefit from a daily omega-3 supplement, however further studies are required to confirm this," the researchers said.
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