Fatty Acids During Pregnancy and Lactation and Body Fat Mass in Newborns

Obesity, Overweight

n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, pregnancy, lactation, breast feeding, breast milk, adipose tissue, newborn, fetal development

Pregnant and lactating women receive n-3 fatty acids starting from week 15 of gestation until 4 months post-partum (pp) in comparison to a control group, who only gets information about adequately healthy nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. The amount of fat in newborns is measured through skinfold thickness, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is hypothesised that a reduction in arachidonic acid intake and an increase of n-3 LC PUFAs (long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids) via supplements containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) could lead to less expansive fat tissue development in the first year of life.

The prevalence of overweight and obese children and adolescents dramatically increased during the last two decades. In Germany every 5th school child is overweight and 4 - 8% of all children are obese. Recent studies suggest that fatty acids in maternal nutrition may have an impact on the fat tissue development during the fetal period. Animal studies showed that a reduction in the arachidonic acid intake, a higher intake of n-3 LC PUFAs (i.e. DHA and EPA) and a resulting lower n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio in food will cause less expansive fat tissue development in the first year of life. In vitro studies and personal observations in animal studies also showed that n-6 fatty acids (i.e. arachidonic acid) stimulate the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes whereas n-3 fatty acids (i.e. DHA and EPA) have the contrary effect. The impact of the maternal fatty acid pattern on the early fat tissue development can only be clarified in an intervention study. Therefore it is planned to recruit 204 pregnant women in the 14th week of gestation. They will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group will receive n-3 LC-PUFAs (DHA and EPA) as fish oil capsules from the 15th week of gestation until 4 months pp, the control group will get nutrition counselling according to the recommendations of the German Society for Nutrition during the same time period. Blood samples of the pregnant and lactating women, umbilical cord blood, placental tissue and blood of the newborns will be collected for fatty acid analysis. Body fat mass in newborns will be determined from delivery until 4 months pp via skinfold measurement, ultrasound, and MRI. The hypothesis is that newborns in the group of the supplemented mothers will have less expansive fat tissue development than children from mothers in the control group. This would be an innovative primary preventive approach in a period of increasing prevalence of overweight and obese children and adolescents.

Germany