Are There Benefits To DHA Infant Formula And Should Nursing Mothers Be Using It?

More and more you can find DHA baby foods, including DHA infant formula. But should you be using it?

If you’re familiar with the benefits of omega 3 essential fatty acids you may well have come across a range of foods that are supplemented with DHA. An example of this is DHA infant formula . Now that the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids to the fetus and developing infants are established it is possible to buy a range of baby products which include DHA. It’s even possible to buy baby cereal with DHA.

Many well known baby foods are fortified with DHA, (Docosahexaenoic Acid). It is now common to find DHA in baby formula because the baby food industry is, of course, quick to respond to consumer demand. Expect to see more baby foods with DHA fortification.

But what are the benefits of DHA infant formula and should you be using DHA fortified baby foods?

This question was recently addressed in a lecture given by Peter Williat, a child psychologist from the University of Dundee. It was a lecture to a group of mainly doctors, pharmacists and nutritionists given on behalf of SMA Nutritional, an infant formula manufactured and sold by Wyett Nutrition.

This lecture was to mark an improvement in this brand of baby formula. DHA is now included in this infant formula. It was interesting to note that Mr. Williat cited some of the research relating to DHA and baby and infant development. Amongst these benefits to child development, according to Mr. Williat, were improvements in “cognitive development, improved visual acuity, memory retention and ability to communicate and solve problems as well as psychomotor development”.

He also noted a number of interesting facts, including that studies have shown that DHA levels differ wildly amongst populations of different countries and that some of the lowest levels of DHA are in residents of the US and Canada.

Mr. Williat advised that pregnant women and nursing mothers get an adequate supply of DHA in their diet so that these benefits can be passed on to the infant through breastfeeding. If the mother’s intake of DHA is adequate then the DHA is present in adequate quantities for the baby in her milk.

If the mother’s intake of DHA is inadequate this obviously means that the supply of DHA to the baby or infant will also be inadequate.

As he was promoting a new baby formula with DHA you would expect him to promote the benefits of DHA baby formula, however in fact when pressed on the benefits of DHA infant formulas compared to the benefits of breastfeeding he said “No infant formula can ever substitute breast milk. It will take years before anybody can tell us how to add the hormones in breast milk to infant formula”.

Of course breastfeeding is superior to feeding the baby or infant with formula for many other reasons as well however it now seems that even the manufacturers of DHA baby formula, through their representatives, admit that breastfeeding is superior.

However this does rely on the mother getting adequate supplies of DHA in her diet and as we previously noted the average American mother has very low levels of DHA. This is a result of a very low consumption of fish.

Whilst eating one or two meals of oily fish a week is recommended that too has its problems. Only certain types of fish have adequate levels of DHA, particularly oily fish. And fish is usually very expensive and out of the reach of some families, particularly families with a new baby. There is a further problem as well.

It is now well known that fish is generally contaminated with various toxins such as mercury, PCBs, pesticides and other heavy metals. For this reason the FDA issue warnings about eating too much fish.

It is however cheaper to use the best DHA supplements. These are completely free of contaminants and can be safely taken daily at a lower cost than buying fresh fish.

The supplementation of baby and infant foods with DHA will continue, however it seems clear that pregnant women and nursing mothers should be taking some form of DHA supplementation to the benefit of their developing infants and that they should be breastfeeding rather than using DHA infant formula. But it is important that the mother herself have adequate levels of DHA, both for her own health and that of her child. Read the rest of this entry