A prenatal supplement of omega-3 can prevent high blood pressure in children: here is everything you need to know.

New York: The daily intake of 600 milligrams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) – an omega-3 fatty acid found in prenatal vitamins, fish oil supplements and fish – can prevent high blood pressure. their children, caused by obesity, suggests a study.

"Prenatal exposure to DHA seems to schedule fetal development so that it is protected from the effects of obesity on blood pressure during childhood," said Susan Carlson, a professor. at the University of Kansas. To better understand, the team included more than 170 women with low-risk pregnancies in the clinical trial and the children were followed for up to six years.

A daily prenatal supplement of 600 mg of DHA was administered to half of them randomly, and the other half to a placebo. The findings, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, showed that overweight and obesity were badociated with expected high blood pressure, but not in children whose mothers had taken DHA.

Overweight and obese children in the placebo group had a significant mean increase of 3.94 mmHg for systolic BP and 4.97 mmHg for diastolic BP compared to overweight / obese mothers of bad-fed mothers. DHA.

John Colombo, a university professor, said, "This study is intended for pregnant women and pediatricians who are wondering what you can do before the birth of your child to optimize his health and behavior. "

"The prenatal environment programs the metabolism of the fetus according to expectations in the postnatal environment.A part of the known effects of DHA could be programming a heart function preserving a normal blood pressure in case of postnatal weight gain, "he said.

The team thinks that low blood pressure at the age of six could extend beyond childhood. "It is known that blood pressure changes over time, so people with elevated BP early in life are more likely to have higher BP later in life," Carlson said.