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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Dietary Supplementation of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: November 29, 2013
Polyunsaturated fatty acids in middle childhood and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in adolescence
Sonia L Robinson1, Henry Oliveros2, Mercedes Mora-Plazas3
1Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Background/Objectives:
We sought to determine the associations of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in middle childhood with externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in adolescence.
Subjects/Methods:
Using gas-liquid chromatography, we quantified n-3 and n-6 PUFA in serum samples of 444 Colombian schoolchildren aged 5-12 years at the time of enrollment into a cohort study. After a median 6 years, adolescent externalizing and internalizing behavior problems were determined with the Youth Self Report (YSR) questionnaire. We estimated adjusted mean behavior problem score differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between quartiles of each PUFA using multivariable linear regression. We also considered as exposures the Δ6-desaturase (D6D) and Δ5-desaturase (D5D) enzyme activity indices.
Results:
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was positively associated with externalizing problems; every standard deviation (SD) of DHA concentration was associated with an adjusted one unit higher externalizing problem score (95% CI: 0.1, 1.9). The D5D enzyme activity index was inversely related to externalizing problem scores. Alpha-linolenic acid concentration was positively associated with internalizing problem scores, whereas adrenic acid was inversely related to this outcome.
Conclusions:
Serum PUFA in middle childhood were related to behavior problems in adolescence. Some of these associations might reflect the role of D5D enzyme activity.
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