Abstract
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.
Highlights
The importance of the essential, dietary derived, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) omega-6 and omega-3 to human health were first reported by Burr and Burr in two landmark publications almost 90 years ago [1,2]
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
Though some decades elapsed before PUFAs commanded a reasonable priority in medical research an escalating body of evidence indicates that adequate levels of both omega-6 and omega-3 PUFAs are required to maintain optimum health throughout life [3]
Summary
The importance of the essential, dietary derived, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) omega-6 and omega-3 to human health were first reported by Burr and Burr in two landmark publications almost 90 years ago [1,2]. Manufactured foods containing oils such as corn, safflower, grape-seed, sunflower, peanut and soybean This same diet has limited capacity to provide omega-3 [4], suggesting that ingestion of omega-3 PUFAs may not be optimal in either adult or adolescent populations. 310 International Journal of Child Health and Nutrition, 2013 Vol 2, No 4 functions including metabolism, cell membrane fluidity, intracellular signaling and gene expression [10] Through these pathways omega-3s influence cell growth and tissue repair and help modulate aspects of inflammation and immunity [11]; functions that are important both to the developing adolescent and mature adult
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