http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?
type=healthNews&storyID=8439550&src=eDialog/GetContent

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Formula feeds containing fatty acids --
specifically docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) -- may
improve the development of preterm infants, new research suggests.
The findings, which appear in the Journal of Pediatrics for April, are
based on a study of 361 preterm infants who were randomized to receive
formula containing DHA from algal oil and ARA from fungal oil, DHA from
fish oil and ARA from fungal oil, or no supplementation. The babies were
compared to a group of 105 full-term breast-fed infants.

Both of the supplemented formulas were linked to better developmental
outcomes than the unsupplemented formula, Dr. Deborah A. Diersen-Schade,
from Mead Johnson Nutritionals in Evansville, Indiana, and colleagues
report.

At 118 weeks since the mothers last menstrual period before pregnancy, the
infants on the algal-DHA formula had a significantly greater weight gain
than those on regular formula or infants in the fish-DHA formula group.

In fact, the weight of the algal-DHA group was comparable to that of term
infants.

Infants in both supplemented formula groups scored higher on standard
mental and movement-coordination tests than did those in the regular
formula group.

"This clinical trial demonstrated that feeding infant formulas with median
worldwide human milk levels of DHA and ARA from single-cell algal and
fungal oils can enhance growth of premature infants," the researchers
conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, April 2005.

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