ADDING FATTY ACIDS TO FORMULA MILK
MAY CUT HEART DISEASE IN LATER LIFE

(Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation
in infant formula and blood pressure in later childhood:
follow up of a randomised controlled trial)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7396/953

Adding long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to infant
formula milk is associated with lower blood pressure
later in childhood, and may cut the risk of heart disease
in adult life, finds a study in this week's BMJ.

In a 1992 trial, 111 newborn infants were fed with a
formula containing long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
(LCPUFAs) and 126 were given a formula without
LCPUFAs but otherwise nutritionally similar. A
reference group of breastfed children also took part in
the study.

Six years later, the children's blood pressure was
measured in a follow up study.

Mean blood pressure was significantly lower in the
LCPUFA group than in the non-LCPUFA group. The
diastolic pressure of the breastfed children was
significantly lower than the non-LCPUFA group but did
not differ from the LCPUFA formula group.

As blood pressure tends to track from childhood into
adult life, early exposure to dietary LCPUFAs,
preferably in breast milk, may reduce cardiovascular risk
in adulthood, say the authors. These findings are
therefore relevant to public health strategies aimed at
improving long term health of the population, they
conclude.

Contact:

Stewart Forsyth, Consultant Paediatrician, Tayside
Institute of Child Health, University of Dundee, Scotland
Email:  [log in to unmask]
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel

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