DHA and ARA supplementation is correlated with improved visual function

DHA and ARA supplementation is correlated with improved visual function

In several studies, breast-fed term infants and term infants fed formula supplemented with pre-formed DHA and ARA have shown more rapid rates of visual development compared to infants fed non-supplemented formula. According to a clinical study published in March of 2000, this advantage is equivalent to about one line on the eye chart.

In 2002, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that infants who were breast-fed for six weeks and then weaned to a DHA and ARA supplemented infant formula had significantly better visual acuity at 17, 26 and 52 weeks of age and significantly better stereoacuity at 17 weeks of age compared to infants who were weaned to non-supplemented formula.

In 2003, the same researchers showed that infants who were breastfed for the first four to six months of life and then weaned to DHA and ARA supplemented formula demonstrated more mature visual acuity than infants weaned to non-supplemented formula (study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, June 2003).