SUPPLEMENTING BABIES' FORMULA WITH DHA BOOSTS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, STUDY FINDS

Research has shown that children who were breast fed as infants have superior cognitive skills compared to those fed infant formula, and it's thought that this is due to an essential fatty acid in breast milk called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Now a new study has found that babies fed formula supplemented with DHA have higher cognitive skills than babies fed regular formula.

The study, which used a more sensitive test of the babies' cognitive abilities and higher concentrations of DHA than previous research, was carried out by researchers at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. It appears in the September/October 2009 issue of the journal Child Development.

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EXPECTANT MOTHERS WHO TAKE PROBIOTICS HAVE HEALTHIER BABIES

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) recently conducted a study on the effects of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy. The team found that mothers who drank probiotic-supplemented milk during their pregnancies cut their children's risk of developing eczema by 40 percent.

The study is part of a larger Norwegian research project being conducted by the university called "Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim", or PACT. In this particular study, women were given either milk with probiotics or milk with a placebo, beginning at week 36 of their pregnancies. Neither group knew which formula they were drinking. Researchers evaluated the women and their children from pregnancy until the children were two years old before presenting their findings.

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VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY IN PREGNANT WOMEN LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECT

A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics has revealed that women who do not have an adequate intake of vitamin B12 during pregnancy are at greater risk of having a child with a birth abnormality called neural tube defect.

About Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and Birth Defects

The researchers had noted that folic acid fortification in food had helped to lower the prevalence of neural tube defects by about 50% to 70%. As it was not likely that levels of folic acid added would be increased anymore to further help prevent neural tube defect occurrence, they set out to investigate another modifiable risk factor - vitamin B12.

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TAKING FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS IN LATE PREGNANCY BOOSTS BABY'S BRAINPOWER, STUDY FINDS

An Australian study published in the Dec. 21, 2006 edition of the online journal Archives of Disease in Childhood found that women who take high doses of fish oil supplements in the second half of pregnancy give birth to children with greater coordination and increased brainpower later in life.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia recruited 98 pregnant women who did not smoke and ate fish no more than twice per week. The researchers gave one group of women 4g of daily fish oil supplements starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, while the second group was given daily 4g supplements of olive oil from 20 weeks on.

When the women's children were 2.5 years old, the researchers administered growth and development tests.

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