A Quantitative Analysis of Prenatal Intake of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cognitive Development

This paper aggregates eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing cognitive development in controls and in children who had received n-3 PUFA supplementation (seven studies of formula supplementation and one study of maternal dietary supplementation). Our analysis assigns study weights accounting for statistical precision, relevance of three endpoint domains (general intelligence, verbal ability, and motor skills) to prediction of IQ, and age at evaluation. The study estimates that increasing maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake by 100 mg/day increases child IQ by 0.13 points. The paper notes that findings were inconsistent across the RCTs evaluated (although our findings were relatively robust to changes in the weighting scheme used). Also, for seven of the eight studies reviewed, effects are extrapolated from formula supplementation to maternal dietary intake.