Essential Fatty Acids in Infant Nutrition

Abstract

In an infant feeding study it was found that young infants fed on a skim milk diet extremely low in fat and linoleic acid, though otherwise nutritionally adequate, showed certain signs and symptoms. Within a short time, most of the 27 infants developed frequent large stools. Perianal irritation was a disconcerting feature in most instances. Within a matter of weeks alterations in the skin were discernible in the majority of infants. The first sign observed was dryness, then thickening and later desquamation with oozing in the intertriginous folds. These changes were particularly marked in the negro infants. Addition of saturated fatty acids to the diet did not improve the skin. On the other hand, the addition of linoleic acid as trilinolein to constitute 2% of the daily Caloric intake restored the skin to a normal soft moist texture and appearance within one to two weeks. If the milk mixture was changed to 2 to 5% of the Calories with total fat constituting 42% of the Calories, restitution of the skin was equally as prompt. When a milk mixture containing 1.3% of the Calories as linoleic acid was given, the skin returned to normal in two to 4 weeks. In one instance, arachidonic acid given as the ethyl ester at a 2% Caloric level required about 5 weeks for the skin to return to normal. The serum of all the infants on the low-fat diet had extremely low values for the di- and tetraenoic acids and high values for trienoic acid which values changed with the addition of linoleic acid to the diet. The dienoic acid values reflected the dietary intake most markedly. Arachidonic acid administration did not change the dienoic acid level. It is concluded that young infants require linoleic acid in their diet.