03.21.12
University of Kansas researchers John Colombo and Susan Carlson have been awarded $2.5 million for the next five years for a 10-year, double-blind, randomized controlled trial to determine whether prenatal nutritional supplementation with the omega 3 fatty acid DHA benefits children’s intelligence and school readiness. “The possibility that DHA may have long-term benefits for cognitive-intellectual development, particularly on measures that predict school achievement, would have enormous implications for public policy on prenatal nutrition,” said Dr. Carlson, A. J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The study will follow the children of 350 mothers who were enrolled in the study during pregnancy. Pregnant women were randomly assigned to take either 600 mg of DHA or 600 mg of a placebo during the last half of pregnancy. During the first five years of the study, all children received multiple developmental assessments through 18 months of age. In the next five years of the study all children will receive twice-yearly assessments through 6 years of age. The researchers will measure developmental milestones that occur in later childhood and are linked to lifelong health and welfare.
The trial will be the first to measure the effects of prenatal nutritional supplementation with DHA employing frequent assessment of intellectual and psychological development of children in this age group. Another unique feature of the trial is evaluating the effect of genetic variation in genes that are linked to fatty acid metabolism and DHA status. The study is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
The study will follow the children of 350 mothers who were enrolled in the study during pregnancy. Pregnant women were randomly assigned to take either 600 mg of DHA or 600 mg of a placebo during the last half of pregnancy. During the first five years of the study, all children received multiple developmental assessments through 18 months of age. In the next five years of the study all children will receive twice-yearly assessments through 6 years of age. The researchers will measure developmental milestones that occur in later childhood and are linked to lifelong health and welfare.
The trial will be the first to measure the effects of prenatal nutritional supplementation with DHA employing frequent assessment of intellectual and psychological development of children in this age group. Another unique feature of the trial is evaluating the effect of genetic variation in genes that are linked to fatty acid metabolism and DHA status. The study is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
