ReviewPublic health nutrition2016
An updated review of worldwide levels of docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid in human breast milk by region.
Review in Public health nutrition, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association of breastfeeding with cognitive development and educational achievement in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Breast milk n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and blood pressure: an individual participant meta-analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of fish-oil supplementation on breastmilk long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration: a randomized controlled trial in rural Ethiopia.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Human Milk as a Model for Next-Generation Infant Formula: Opportunities and Challenges.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Deficiency in Breast Milk: A Cross-Sectional Study of Lactating Women in Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.Nutrients · 2026Observational
- Association Between Maternal Dietary Fatty Acid Intake and Fatty Acid Composition of Placental Phospholipids.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Arachidonic acid as a potentially critical nutrient for vegetarians and vegans - position paper of the Research Institute for Plant-based Nutrition (IFPE).Lipids in health and disease · 2025Review
- [Perinatal benefits and recommendations of docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2025Review
- The importance of lipids for neurodevelopment in low and middle income countries.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Changes in the Fatty Acid Profile of Lactating Women Living in Poland-A Comparison with the Fatty Acid Profile of Selected Infant Formulas.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Mothers' Breast Milk Composition and Their Respective Infant's Gut Microbiota Differ between Five Distinct Rural and Urban Regions in Vietnam.Nutrients · 2023Observational
- Dietary supplementation of laminarin improves the reproductive performance of sows and the growth of suckling piglets.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Effects of exclusive breastfeeding on educational attainment and longitudinal trajectories of grade progression among children in a 13-year follow-up study in Malawi.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Docosahexaenoic Acid in Formulas for Term Infants: The Way from Pioneer Idea to Mandatory Dietary Recommendation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Human Milk Composition and Nutritional Status of Omnivore Human Milk Donors Compared with Vegetarian/Vegan Lactating Mothers.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Article
- Maternal diet and human milk composition: an updated systematic review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Review
- Review
- Food Insecurity and Maternal Diet Influence Human Milk Composition between the Infant's Birth and 6 Months after Birth in Central-Africa.Nutrients · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWe aimed to evaluate the DHA and arachidonic acid (AA) levels in human breast milk worldwide by country, region and socio-economic status.
designDescriptive review conducted on English publications reporting breast-milk DHA and AA levels.
settingWe systematically searched and identified eligible literature in PubMed from January 1980 to July 2015. Data on breast-milk DHA and AA levels from women who had given birth to term infants were included. SUBJECTS: Seventy-eight studies from forty-one countries were included with 4163 breast-milk samples of 3746 individuals.
resultsWorldwide mean levels of DHA and AA in breast milk were 0·37 (sd 0·11) % and 0·55 (sd 0·14) % of total fatty acids, respectively. The breast-milk DHA levels from women with accessibility to marine foods were significantly higher than those from women without accessibility (0·35 (sd 0·20) % v. 0·25 (sd 0·14) %, P<0·05). Data from the Asian region showed the highest DHA concentration but much lower AA concentration in breast milk compared with all other regions, independent of accessibility to marine foods. Comparison was made among Canada, Poland and Japan - three typical countries (each with sample size of more than 100 women) from different regions but all with high income and similar accessibility to fish/marine foods.
conclusionsThe current review provides an update on worldwide variation in breast-milk DHA and AA levels and underlines the need for future population- or region-specific investigations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.