ReviewNutrients2021
The Influence of Omega-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid, Docosahexaenoic Acid, on Child Behavioral Functioning: A Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of DHA Supplementation in Pregnancy, the Neonatal Period and Infancy.
Review in Nutrients, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential Neuroprotective Effects of Docosahexaenoic Acid on Glutamate-Induced Neurotoxicity: A Systematic Review of Pre-Clinical Studies.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Fish oil-derived fatty acids in pregnancy and brain metabolism in middle childhood: results from a randomized controlled trial.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Fish oil-derived fatty acids during pregnancy and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children at age 10 - A randomized controlled trial.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Impact of DHA from Algal Oil on the Breast Milk DHA Levels of Lactating Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial in China.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- Infant Metabolome in Relation to Prenatal DHA Supplementation and Maternal Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism rs174602: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial in Mexico.The Journal of nutrition · 2021Trial
- Docosahexaenoic acid-rich algae oil supplementation on breast milk fatty acid profile of mothers who delivered prematurely: a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Trial
- DHA: Nutritional Programming During the First 1000 Days of Life.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Review
- Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)-Should They Be Mandatory Supplements in Pregnancy?Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The Maternal Omega-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Concentration in Early Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopment: The ECLIPSES Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Demographic and health characteristics associated with fish andPublic health nutrition · 2024Article
- Mental health and well-being for the prevention of substance use disorders.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
- Fatty Acid Metabolism Disruptions: A Subtle yet Critical Factor in Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.International journal of biological sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Article
- Serum docosahexaenoic acid levels are associated with brain volumes in extremely preterm born infants.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Exploring the therapeutic potential of omega-3 fatty acids in depression.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Review
- Article
- Overview of Important Micronutrients Supplementation in Preterm Infants after Discharge: A Call for Consensus.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This is a review of randomized controlled trials using docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) interventions in the first 1000 days of life with assessments of behavioral functioning in childhood. Electronic databases were searched for trials with a DHA intervention (compared with a placebo group that received no or less DHA) at any time to either women or infants during the first 1000 days, with a subsequent assessment of child behavior. There were 25 trials involving 10,320 mother-child pairs, and 71 assessments of behavior in 6867 of the children (66.5% of those originally enrolled). From the 71 assessments administered, there were 401 comparisons between a DHA group and a control group, with most reporting a null effect. There were no findings of a positive effect of DHA, and 23 instances where the DHA group had worse scores compared with the control group. There was limited evidence that DHA supplementation had any effect on behavioral development, although two of the largest trials with behavioral measures detected adverse effects. Future trials, and future follow-ups of existing trials, should make an effort to evaluate the effect of DHA intervention on behavioral functioning.
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.