Suboptimal Omega-3 Levels in Australian Adolescents

被引：7

作者：

Grant, Ross ^{[1
,3
,6
]}

Guest, Jade ^{[1
]}

Bilgin, Ayse ^{[2
]}

Morris, Margaret J. ^{[3
]}

Garg, Manohar ^{[4
]}

Pearce, Robyn ^{[5
]}

机构：

[1] Sydney Adventist Hosp, Ctr Lifestyle Med & Res, Wahroonga, NSW, Australia

[2] Macquarie Univ, Fac Sci, Dept Stat, N Ryde, NSW, Australia

[3] UNSW, Sch Med Sci, Dept Pharmacol, Kensington, NSW, Australia

[4] Univ Newcastle, Sch Biomed Sci & Pharm, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

[5] Avondale Coll Higher Educ, Fac Educ Business & Sci, Cooranbong, NSW, Australia

[6] Univ Sydney, Sydney Med Sch, Sydney, NSW, Australia

来源：

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILD HEALTH AND NUTRITION | 2013年 / 2卷 / 04期

关键词：

Polyunsaturated fatty acids; child; health; brain; depression;

D O I：

10.6000/1929-4247.2013.02.04.4

中图分类号：

R72 [儿科学];

学科分类号：

100202 ;

摘要：

Objective: To quantitate the omega-3 status in a cohort of Australian adolescents. Design, Setting and Participants: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 251 apparently healthy adolescents (192 female, 59 male) aged 15-17 years, in year 11, from 10 schools within the Northern Sydney and Central Coast areas of New South Wales. Participants provided a morning non-fasting blood sample via finger-prick and written answers to specific demographic and lifestyle questions. Omega-3 index was calculated by adding % EPA and % DHA values in the whole blood. Equivalent erythrocyte omega-3 index values were obtained by using conversion factors (1.33 for EPA and 2.22 for DHA) from published erythrocyte/whole blood values. Main Outcome Measures: Quantitation of the individual, and estimation of the group average, blood omega-3 Index. Results: The blood omega-3 Index for this adolescent cohort ranged from 2.1-22.3 with a mean of 8.3 +/- 3.2, and median of 7.8. On average males had a higher omega-3 Index compared to females (10.5 +/- 3.7 vs 7.7 +/- 2.6, p < 0.001). Fifty three percent of adolescents tested had an omega-3 Index below the optimum of > 8. Three percent had an Index of < 4, placing them in the high risk category for disease. On average, adolescents from low or medium socioeconomic communities had a significantly lower omega-3 Index compared to those from higher socioeconomic neighbourhoods (mean difference=1.4, p=0.018). Overall 20% of boys and 17% of girls reported regularly taking omega-3 supplements. Regular use of omega-3 supplements was associated with a higher average omega-3 Index (9.8 +/- 3.7, n=44 compared to 8.0 +/- 3.0, n=203, p=0.001 in those not taking supplements). Conclusion: This study indicates that Australian adolescents, even when from advantaged homes, have a high probability of below optimum omega-3 levels. As reduced omega-3 levels are linked to conditions of public health concern such as diabetes, asthma and depression, targeted strategies to improve the omega-3 status in the childhood population may be warranted.

引用

页码：309 / 315

页数：7