Lee Swanson Research Update

DHA Boosts Psychomotor Skills in Breastfed Children

October 2005

DHA

Mothers in a study conducted at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston passed docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) along to their breast-feeding children, who in turn saw a significant increase on psychomotor skills.

The study, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 227 breastfeeding mothers who were given a 200 mg capsule of DHA or placebo daily for four months, beginning five days after delivery.

At two and one-half years, 160 of the children were tested for psychomotor development (physical actions, body movements). The children of DHA-supplemented mothers scored significantly higher on the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index (PDI), when compared to the children of non-supplemented moms. The Bayley PDI assesses fine and gross motor skills (hand-eye coordination) in infants and children.

The study also confirmed that DHA supplementation while breastfeeding effectively increases DHA levels in the mother's milk, as well as in the infant's blood. The mothers supplemented with DHA had 75% more DHA in their breast milk than the control group and their infants had 35% higher DHA blood levels than the control group infants.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 82:125-132, 2005

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