Whole Blood Levels of the n-6 Essential Fatty Acid Linoleic Acid Are Inversely Associated with Stunting in 2-to-6 Year Old Tanzanian Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Theresia Jumbe; Sarah S Comstock; Samantha L Hahn; William S Harris; Joyce Kinabo; Jenifer I Fenton

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154715

Whole Blood Levels of the n-6 Essential Fatty Acid Linoleic Acid Are Inversely Associated with Stunting in 2-to-6 Year Old Tanzanian Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

PLoS One. 2016 May 3;11(5):e0154715. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154715. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Theresia Jumbe^{1

2}, Sarah S Comstock¹, Samantha L Hahn¹, William S Harris³, Joyce Kinabo², Jenifer I Fenton¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
² Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
³ Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota and OmegaQuant Analytics, LLC, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States of America.

Abstract

Background: In Tanzania, 35% of all children below five years of age are stunted. Dietary fatty acids (FA) are critical for growth and development. However, whole blood FA levels in Tanzanian children are poorly described.

Objective: The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to assess 1) whole blood levels of essential fatty acids and 2) the association between whole blood FA levels and growth parameters in Tanzanian children 2-6 years of age.

Methods: A drop of blood was collected on an antioxidant treated card and analyzed for FA composition. Weight and height were measured and z-scores calculated. Relationships between FAs and growth parameters were analyzed by linear regression.

Results: Of the 334 children that participated, 30.3% were stunted. The average whole blood level of Mead acid was 0.15%. The anthropometric z-score height-for-age (HAZ) was inversely associated with Mead acid, the Mead acid to arachidonic acid (T/T) ratio, and total n-9 FA. Additionally, HAZ was positively associated with linoleic acid and total n-6 FA. BMI-for-age was positively associated with oleic acid, total n-9 FA and T/T ratio but inversely associated with arachidonic acid and total n-6 FA. Weight-for-height was inversely associated with arachidonic acid and total n-6 FAs and positively associated with oleic acid and total n-9 FA. Weight-for-age was not associated with any FA tested. Total n-3 FAs were not associated with any growth parameters measured.

Conclusions: The EFA linoleic acid and the markers of FA deficiency were associated with HAZ, an indicator for stunting in 2-6 year old Tanzanian children. Total n-6, total n-9, and a number of individual FAs were associated with growth. Increasing dietary intake of EFA and n-6 FAs may be a strategy to combat stunting in this population.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Body Height
Body Weight
Child
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Growth Disorders / blood*
Humans
Linoleic Acid / blood*
Male
Tanzania

Substances

Linoleic Acid

Grants and funding

This work was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative project (iAGRI) (Award No. CA-621-A-00-11-00009-00). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the United States Government. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.