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Lee Swanson Research Update
Omega-3 Status in Pregnancy is Linked to Childhood Obesity
June 2011
Adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy may lower the risk of childhood obesity by 32%, according to new research from Harvard Medical School.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the relationship between the type of fat a mother consumed at mid-pregnancy and whether her child was obese at age three—determined by body mass index (BMI) and skin fold measurements.
The researchers, led by Dr. Emily Oken, associate professor in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School, reported that enhanced maternal-fetal omega-3 status was associated with lower childhood obesity.
"We examined the extent to which prenatal omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA concentrations were associated with childhood adiposity," wrote Oken and her colleagues.
"A higher ratio of cord plasma omega-6 to omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was associated with higher subscapular and triceps [skin fold thicknesses] and odds of obesity," they said.
The consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, most notably EPA and DHA, is associated with several health benefits, including improving lipid metabolism, preventing coronary heart diseases and reducing inflammatory responses. In addition, omega-3s have been suggested to reduce fat levels in animals fed a high-fat diet.
Oken and her colleagues explained that a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids, found mainly in fish and seafood, in addition to a presence of large amounts of omega-6s has been suggested to be a risk factor in the development of obesity.
Previous research in animals found that such imbalances in the types of fatty acids in the diet promote the development of fat tissue. However, the authors noted that very few studies have investigated these effects in human populations.
Oken and her colleagues reported that around one-fifth of expectant mothers ate more than two fish meals per week at mid-pregnancy, however only about half of these women achieved the recommended intake of DHA of 200 mg per day.
The authors said that such an observation suggests that although pregnant women ate fish, they did not consume enough of the species known to contain high amounts of DHA, such as salmon, tuna and mackerel.
Only three percent of pregnant women in the study were found to consume the recommended intake of 200 mg/day of DHA in the last month of pregnancy. Oken and her team noted that this is the time when large amounts of DHA are transferred from the mother to the infant to support brain development.
The research team then calculated the odds for obesity in the offspring at age three, according to the mother’s omega-3 fatty acid intake and the level of omega-6s and omega-3s in cord blood at delivery.
Oken and her co-workers reported the odds of obesity in three year olds were between two and four times higher when cord blood had a high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
In contrast, the odds of obesity were 32% lower when maternal consumption of omega-3s was high or if the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 was close to recommended levels.
The Harvard research team noted that the study provides the first indications from human data that low intakes of omega-3s in the presence of large amounts of omega-6s during pregnancy might affect the chance of obesity in the offspring.
"These findings need to be confirmed by others. It will also be important to demonstrate that making deliberate changes to a woman’s fat intake during pregnancy has desirable effects on weight and fatness in children," they added.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 93(4):780-788, 2011
