Fatty acids and sleep in UK children: subjective and pilot objective sleep results from the DOLAB study--a randomized controlled trial - PubMed (original) (raw)

Randomized Controlled Trial

doi: 10.1111/jsr.12135. Epub 2014 Mar 8.

Affiliations

Free PMC article

Randomized Controlled Trial

Fatty acids and sleep in UK children: subjective and pilot objective sleep results from the DOLAB study--a randomized controlled trial

Paul Montgomery et al. J Sleep Res. 2014 Aug.

Free PMC article

Abstract

Sleep problems in children are associated with poor health, behavioural and cognitive problems, as are deficiencies of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid. Theory and some evidence support a role for these fatty acids in sleep regulation, but this issue has received little formal investigation. We examined associations between blood fatty acid concentrations (from fingerstick blood samples) and subjective sleep (using an age-standardized parent questionnaire) in a large epidemiological sample of healthy children aged 7-9 years (n = 395) from mainstream UK schools. In a randomized controlled trial, we then explored whether 16-week supplementation (600 mg day(-1) ) with algal docosahexaenoic acid versus placebo might improve sleep in a subset of those children (n = 362) who were underperforming in reading. In a randomly selected subsample (n = 43), sleep was also assessed objectively via actigraphy. In 40% of the epidemiological sample, Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire scores indicated clinical-level sleep problems. Furthermore, poorer total sleep disturbance scores were associated weakly but significantly with lower blood docosahexaenoic acid (std coeff. -0.105*) and a lower docosahexaenoic acid : arachidonic acid ratio (std coeff. -0.119**). The treatment trial showed no significant effects on subjective sleep measures. However, in the small actigraphy subsample, docosahexaenoic acid supplementation led on average to seven fewer wake episodes and 58 min more sleep per night. Cautiously, we conclude that higher blood levels of docosahexaenoic acid may relate to better child sleep, as rated by parents. Exploratory pilot objective evidence from actigraphy suggests that docosahexaenoic acid supplementation may improve children's sleep, but further investigations are needed.

Keywords: actigraphy; children; docosahexaenoic acid; omega-3; randomized controlled trial; sleep.

© 2014 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Flowchart.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) total sleep disturbance distribution in the epidemiology sample.

Figure 3

Figure 3

Total min sleep: baseline, postintervention and change by treatment group.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bailey-Hall E, Nelson EB, Ryan AS. Validation of a rapid measure of blood PUFA levels in humans. Lipids. 2008;43:181–186. - PubMed
    1. Bloch MH, Qawasmi A. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for the treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomatology: systematic review and meta-analysis. J. Am. Acad. Child Psychiatry. 2011;50:991–1000. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burgess JR, Stevens L, Zhang W, Peck L. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2000;71(Suppl. 1):327S–330S. - PubMed
    1. Catala A. The function of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the pineal gland. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 2010;1801:95–99. - PubMed
    1. Cheruku SR, Montgomery-Downs HE, Farkas SL, Thoman EB, Lammi-Keefe CJ. Higher maternal plasma docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy is associated with more mature neonatal sleep-state patterning. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2002;76:608–613. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources