TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of whole blood n-6 fatty acids with stunting in 2-to-6-year-old Northern Ghanaian children
T2 - A cross-sectional study
AU - Adjepong, Mary
AU - Austin Pickens, C.
AU - Jain, Raghav
AU - Harris, William S.
AU - Annan, Reginald A.
AU - Fenton, Jenifer I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and May be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - In Northern Ghana, 33% of children are stunted due to economic disparities. Dietary fatty acids (FA) are critical for growth, but whether blood FA levels are adequate in Ghanaian children is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the association between whole blood FAs and growth parameters in Northern Ghanaian children 2–6 years of age. A drop of blood was collected on an antioxidant treated card and analyzed for FA composition. Weight and height were measured and z-scores were calculated. Relationships between FAs and growth parameters were analyzed by Spearman correlations, linear regressions, and factor analysis. Of the 307 children who participated, 29.7% were stunted and 8% were essential FA deficient (triene/tetraene ratio>0.02). Essential FA did not differ between stunted and non-stunted children and was not associated with height-for-age z-score (HAZ) or weight-for-age z-score (WAZ). In hemoglobin adjusted regression models, both HAZ and WAZ were positively associated with arachidonic acid (p0.01), dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA, p0.05), docosatetraenoic acid (p0.01) and the ratio of DGLA/linoleic acid (p0.01). These data add to the growing body of evidence indicating n-6 FAs are critical in childhood linear growth. Our findings provide new insights into the health status of an understudied Northern Ghanaian population.
AB - In Northern Ghana, 33% of children are stunted due to economic disparities. Dietary fatty acids (FA) are critical for growth, but whether blood FA levels are adequate in Ghanaian children is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the association between whole blood FAs and growth parameters in Northern Ghanaian children 2–6 years of age. A drop of blood was collected on an antioxidant treated card and analyzed for FA composition. Weight and height were measured and z-scores were calculated. Relationships between FAs and growth parameters were analyzed by Spearman correlations, linear regressions, and factor analysis. Of the 307 children who participated, 29.7% were stunted and 8% were essential FA deficient (triene/tetraene ratio>0.02). Essential FA did not differ between stunted and non-stunted children and was not associated with height-for-age z-score (HAZ) or weight-for-age z-score (WAZ). In hemoglobin adjusted regression models, both HAZ and WAZ were positively associated with arachidonic acid (p0.01), dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA, p0.05), docosatetraenoic acid (p0.01) and the ratio of DGLA/linoleic acid (p0.01). These data add to the growing body of evidence indicating n-6 FAs are critical in childhood linear growth. Our findings provide new insights into the health status of an understudied Northern Ghanaian population.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042938983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85042938983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0193301
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0193301
M3 - Article
C2 - 29494645
AN - SCOPUS:85042938983
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 13
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 3
M1 - e0193301
ER -