Abstract
Background: Human milk fat is the main source of energy for breastfed infants. Milk fat also transports lipid soluble vitamins and n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), essential for the proper development of the brain, retina, and other organs. Fatty acids are the only milk lipids that can be altered to any extend by maternal dietary manipulation. Since maternal nutritional status during pregnancy is critical for the newborn, and little information exists regarding the PUFA status of populations living in Southern regions,
Objective: To study the relationship between maternal nutrition and the fatty acid composition of human milk.
Methods: Milk samples were obtained from mothers of normal nursing infants born at full term; maternal nutritional state was assessed using the body mass index. On this basis, mothers were considered as normal, overweight or obese. Maternal diet was evaluated according to a survey of frequency and quality of the food consumed. Samples of mature milk were obtained by hand expression 3 minutes into a nursing and immediately frozen at –70° C. Protein content was determined by spectrophotometry and total lipids by gravimetry. The fatty acid composition of lipids was determined by gas-liquid chromatography.
Results and conclusions: Milk protein was no affected by maternal nutritional status; the total lipid content of milk samples from obese mothers was significantly increased relative to normal or overweight mothers. Of the total n-6 fatty acids, the milk from obese mothers had significant increases in the 18:2 n-6, and of total PUFA relative to the controls. There were no differences in the proportion of fatty acids of the n-3 series. Independently of nutritional status, the ratio n-6/n-3 fatty acids was very high compared with samples from developed countries. This is leading us to devise a strategy for a new dietary approach for nursing mothers.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marín, M., Sanjurjo, A., Rodrigo, M. et al. 5 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Argentinian Human Milk: Is There a Relative Deficiency in N-3 Fatty Acids?. Pediatr Res 57, 921 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200506000-00033
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200506000-00033