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Al-Ghannami, Samia S., Sedlak, Eva, Hussein, Izzeldin, Min, Yoeju, Al-Shammakhi, Saleh M., Al-Oufi, Hamed S., Al-Mazroui, Ahmed, Clough, Peter and Ghebremeskel, Kebreab (2018) DHA-enriched re-esterified triacylglycerol fish oil supplementation and oily fish consumption enhance red blood n-3 fatty acid index in Omani pre-adolescent schoolchildren. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids (PLEFA), 135. pp. 74-82. ISSN 0952-3278
Dietary habits of Omani population particularly of children and young adults have changed significantly. Consumption of imported calorie-dense foods, vegetable oils, milled and polished grains and carbonated beverages have become the norm. Concomitantly, there has been an exponential increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. The impact of the westernisation of eating habits on children has not been evaluated. We have investigated blood fatty acid profile of male (n=125) and female (n=160) children aged 9 and 10 (9.8±0.4) years enrolled from three state-funded schools. The schools, which are homogenous with respect to socio-economic background of their pupils, were randomised into fish oil (n=98), oily fish (n=82) or control (n=105) group. Subsequently, the children were given during morning tea break for 12 weeks: (1) DHA-enriched re-esterified triacylglycerol fish oil capsule with cheese/salad sandwich (fish oil group), (2) Lightly grilled oily fish with salad (fish group) or 3. Cheese/salad sandwich (control group). At baseline, the males had higher myristic, palmitic and oleic and lower adrenic acids than the females (p<0.05). There was no difference in n-3 fatty acid index (4.86±1.95 vs. 5.12±1.67, p>0.05) or AA (14.6±1.9 vs. 14.9±1.8, p>0.05) between the genders. There was no difference in any of the fatty acids between the three groups at baseline. Post-intervention, the oily fish group had lower n-3 fatty acid index (EPA+DHA, 6.03±1.39 vs. 6.60± 1.63, p<0.05) and higher AA (15.2±1.8 vs. 13.7±2.0, p=0.0001) and n-3 DPA (1.40±0.27 vs. 1.07±0.22, p=0.0001) compared with those who received fish oil capsules. In both the fish oil and oily fish groups, fatty acid index correlated positively with AA (r=0.394, p=0.0001; r=0.231, p=0.038) and negatively with total saturated (r= - 0.816, p=0.0001; r= - 0.439, p=0.0001) and total mono-unsaturated (r= - 0.431, p=0.0001; r= - 0.231, p=0.037) fatty acids. Although seafood is an integral part of traditional Omani cuisine the children had a low level of n-3 fatty acids index. There is a need to address this nutritional insufficiency through school feeding programme, targeted intervention with n-3 fatty acid enriched food products and/or family education programme.
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