Fatty acid supplement for premmie babies did not help improve behaviour at age 5

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-11-21 03:00

Australia; New Zealand; NSW; VIC; QLD; SA; WA

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Giving a fatty acid supplement, called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), to babies born before 29 weeks did not improve their behaviour, executive function or health at age 5, according to an Australian study. Babies born at less than 30 weeks miss the peak period for building up this key fatty acid in the brain, which occurs mainly during the last trimester of pregnancy. It had been thought that not having enough DHA could be contributing to the poorer neurobehavioral outcomes seen in preterm babies, but this study suggests supplementing DHA back in did not help improve behaviour.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), The University of Adelaide, Monash University, The University of Western Australia, The University of New South Wales, The University of Queensland, Waikato Hospital

Funder: Financial support for the submitted work was from a project grant from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation, as well as from the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia (1022112 - N3RO for the original trial; 1146806 for the 5-year follow-up). See paper for conflict of interest disclosures.

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