Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) Nutrition 5-Year-Olds X Section

April 14, 2015 updated by: University of British Columbia

n-3 Fatty Acids and Early Child Nutrition: 5-Year-Olds X-Section Study

In humans, docosahexanoic acid (DHA) is concentrated in brain. After birth, DHA is obtained from breast milk or the child's diet. The investigators are studying whether DHA intakes in young children are adequate to support brain development. This is a cross-sectional study of children 5-6 years-old.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

This research involves recruitment of a cross-sectional cohort of children 5 years of age and their mothers. The purpose is to assess the relationship between the child's diet, DHA status and neural, cognitive and behavioral development. Hypotheses: 1. Children with low DHA status will be at increased risk for poor scores on tests of development. 2. Family food practices will be major determinant of DHA intake of preschool children in our population. 3. Genetic variation in fatty acid metabolism will influence blood fatty acids in preschool children.

Objectives: 1. To determine if low DHA status among children 5-6 years-of-age is associated with low scores on tests of development; 2. To identify the dietary patterns that place children at risk for poor DHA status, 3. To show genetic variation also alters blood fatty acids in children.

This research will recruit a cohort of 5-6year-old children (n= 200). Subjects will attend our nutrition lab at the Child and Family Research Institute where the child will complete play-like developmental assessments. Measurement of blood pressure, heart rate, height and weight will be completed and blood samples will be collected to measure DHA status and polymorphisms (SNP) in genes of fatty acid metabolism. The parent will be asked to provide information on the child' diet and health. Baseline characteristics for the subjects will be summarized using descriptive statistics. Logistic regression will be used to assess the relationship of DHA status to cognitive development with multi-variable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of a negative outcome and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Regressions will also be run with the outcomes in continuous form to assess the changes in scores associated with increments of child DHA status. For all multivariate regression models, potential confounders will be screened in stepwise fashion, and any covariate with a regression coefficient P-value < 0.05 (two-sided) will be retained. Variables will include gender, birth weight, gestation length, maternal intelligence quotient (IQ), ethnicity, breast-feeding duration, birth order, and dichotomized variables of child health, eating behavior and martial status. Children will grouped in quintiles of blood DHA and descriptive statistics will be used to present intakes of total fat, individual fatty acids. ANOVA will be used to determine if genetic variables in Fetal Akinesia Deformation Sequence (FADS) influence blood DHA.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

187

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z4H4
        • Child & Family Research Institute, Nutrition and Metabolism Research Program

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

5 years to 6 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

This is a cross-sectional study of children 5-6 years-old.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • comfortable to speak and read in English
  • parent or primary caregiver of a healthy child that is 5-6 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • not capable/comfortable with reading, speaking and writing the English language.
  • not the parent or primary caregiver or legal guardian of a 5-6 year-old child.
  • the child that is not in good health or has severe food allergies or a metabolic, neurological, genetic, or immune disorder that influences the child's food choices will not be able to participate in this study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
plasma lutein and red blood cell DHA
Time Frame: 5 years 8 months to 6 years
plasma lutein and red blood cell DHA biochemistries
5 years 8 months to 6 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
cognitive development with standardized developmental tests
Time Frame: 5 years 8 months to 6 years
Assessment with the Kaufman Developmental Assessment Battery
5 years 8 months to 6 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Study Director: Tim Oberlander, MD, University of British Columbia

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 27, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

April 29, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 15, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 14, 2015

Last Verified

April 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H09-02921

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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