Dietary Fatty Acids in Growth and Development.

A newborn infant will double his/her weight in the first 3 months of life and double it again in the next year. Such a rapid growth rate demands adequate nutrition. Fat is a vital source of energy for the growing infant. In breast milk for example, 50 % of the energy is in the form of fat. The fat of breast milk contains a full complement of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including the two essential PUFA, linoleic acid (LA, 18:2 n-6) and a-linolenic acid, (ALA, 18:3 n-3) but also a range of long chain (LC) PUFA that have been shown to have benefits for both preterm and term infants. Until recently, infant formulas contained LA and ALA only, and this was thought to provide adequate fat nutrition since formula fed infants grew as well as breast-fed babies. LCPUFA are increasingly being added to infant formulas as the technical challenge relating to identifying sources that are stable and hence safe for infants have been overcome. The scope of this paper is to review some of the latest information available in the field of LCPUFA in infant nutrition, growth and development. PUFA in the diet While LA and ALA have biological activity in their own right, their activity is enhanced when they are converted to 20 and 22 carbon metabolites (LCPUFA) as they are readily incorporate