Li GL, et al. – This meta–analysis enlightened the effects of omega–3 fatty acids supplementation during pregnancy and/or lactation on body weight, body length, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass and sum of skinfold thicknesses of offspring. Evidence displayed that maternal omega–3 fatty acids supplementation could increase offspring's birth weight and postnatal waist circumference. However, no influence on children's birth length, postnatal weight/length, BMI, the sum of skinfold thicknesses, fat mass and the percentage of body fat during postnatal period was reported. Further research work was required to confirm these findings.

Methods

• Human intervention studies were selected by a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and references of related reviews and studies.
• This study included womens' taking omega–3 fatty acids intake during pregnancy or lactation for offspring's growth.
• With the aid of RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0, data were evaluated.
• Effect sizes were presented as weighted mean differences (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results

• 26 studies comprising 10,970 participants were enrolled.
• Significant increases were found in birth weight (WMD = 42.55 g, 95% CI: 21.25, 63.85) and waist circumference (WMD = 0.35 cm, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.67) in the omega–3 fatty acids group.
• There were no effects on birth length (WMD = 0.09 cm, 95% CI: –0.03, 0.21), postnatal length (WMD = 0.13 cm, 95% CI: –0.11, 0.36), postnatal weight (WMD = 0.04 kg, 95% CI: –0.07, 0.14), BMI (WMD = 0.09, 95% CI: –0.05, 0.23), the sum of skinfold thicknesses (WMD = 0.45 mm, 95% CI: –0.30, 1.20), fat mass (WMD = 0.05 kg, 95% CI: –0.01, 0.11) and the percentage of body fat (WMD = 0.04%, 95% CI: –0.38, 0.46).