Breast-feeding and optimal visual development.

The goal of the present study was to determine whether dietary supply of omega-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) influences visual development in healthy pre-term and full-term infants. Visual status was examined in human milk-fed infants (ample dietary omega-3 EFA supply) and corn oil-based formula-fed infants (no dietary omega-3 EFA; standard formula prior to 1987). At 57 weeks postconception (4 months adjusted age), both pre-term and full-term human milk-fed infants had significantly better visual evoked potential (VEP) and forced-choice preferential-looking (FPL) acuity than formula-fed infants. Acuity was correlated with a dietary omega-3 sufficiency index from red blood cell membranes obtained at 57 weeks postconception. At 36 months, full-term human milk-fed children had significantly better random dot stereo acuity and letter matching ability than formula-fed children. Stereo acuity and performance on the letter matching test were correlated with a dietary omega-3 sufficiency index from red blood cell membranes obtained at 4 months. These results suggest that dietary omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in visual development.