Supplementing children with arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid improves visual perception

The objectives of this study were to (1) to determine dietary intakes of arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in healthy children; (2) to supplement children (who consumed low intakes of DHA), with a nutritionally complete dietary formula containing AA and DHA; (3) to evaluate AA and DHA fatty acid status in the blood and visual perception. Children, 4-7 years of age, living in central Alberta. Canada, who consumed low intakes of DHA were recruited in a controlled, double blind study and assigned randomly into two groups: the experimental group was provided with a formula containing AA (20-30 mg/day) and DHA (14-21 mg/day) (long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid group (LCP group)) and the control group was provided with the same formula without AA and DHA. There was a general trend toward a higher level of AA and DHA content (RBC phospholipid and plasma phospholipids) in LCP group compared to control group at 7 months. This study is the first to show that daily supplementation with AA and DHA for a period of 7 months improved visual perception in children who were previously identified to have low dietary intakes of DHA.