Original ArticlesVisual function in breast-fed term infants weaned to formula with or without long-chain polyunsaturates at 4 to 6 months: A randomized clinical trial☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Participants/eligibility
Healthy term infants were recruited primarily from two hospitals in the north Dallas area, Presbyterian Medical Center and Medical City Columbia Hospital. All infants were born at 37 to 40 weeks postmenstrual age as determined by early sonograms, date of last menstrual period, and physical/neurodevelopmental assessment at birth. Only singleton infants and infants with birth weight appropriate for gestational age were included. Exclusion criteria were family history of milk-protein allergy,
Cohort demographics
Of the subjects who completed the 12-month trial (n = 61), the majority was male (54%) and white (93%); there was one Hispanic and one Asian participant in the commercial formula group and 2 Hispanic participants in the LCP group. No significant differences were found between the two diet groups (P > .3) for sex, race, or maternal variables of age (31.3 years; 30.7 years), body weight (63.3 kg; 59.9 kg), or height (164 cm; 165 cm) or paternal variables of age (32.2 years; 32.2 years), weight
Discussion
The results of this randomized clinical trial provide evidence for a continued need for DHA in the infant diet or LCP-enriched formula beyond 4 months of age to optimize visual development during the first year of life. Furthermore, a postweaning supply of LCPs was found to sustain DHA blood lipid levels present at weaning out to 12 months of age. In this trial, a commercial formula with a recommended ratio of the dietary essential fatty acids, LA/LNA of 10:1 resulted in a 50% postweaning
Acknowledgements
Important contributions in the conduct of this study were made by Maia Lapus, BS, Sarah Morale, BS, Solange Salomão, PhD, and by Dr Yi-Zhong Wang, who developed a MatLab program for computing growth Z scores based on NHANES III. We appreciate the collaboration of the newborn nursery and postpartum care staff of Columbia Hospital Medical City (Dallas, Tex) and of the Margot Perot Women's and Children's Hospital at Presbyterian Medical Center (Dallas, Tex). We are grateful for continuing
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Cited by (0)
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Supported by NIH grant HD22380. Infant formulas were generously provided by Mead Johnson Nutritionals (Evansville, Indiana).
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Reprint requests: Dennis R. Hoffman, PhD, Retina Foundation of the Southwest, 9900 North Central Expressway, Ste 400, Dallas, TX 75231. E-mail: [email protected].