Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
Fish oil has been shown to reduce the risk of metabolic disorders. However, the effects of fish oil intervention on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity are still controversial, especially in children. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
Do fish oil supplements (EPA + DHA) improve insulin sensitivity in children?
Study design:
This review article included 13 RCTs with 567 children in placebo group (group without fish oil supplements) and 565 in fish oil group (intervention group).
No heterogeneity was found for the pooled and subgroup analyses.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found compared with the placebo group, fish oil intervention had beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity in the pooled analysis [WMD = -0.219, 95% CI = -0.392 to -0.046, p = 0.013].
These beneficial effects were also found in subgroup analyses, when the fish oil intervention period was short-term (≤6 months) low dose (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) dose 1.5 g/day) and high ratio (eicosapentaenoic acid to docosahexaenoic acid ≥1).
The investigators concluded fish oil supplements, especially 1.5 g/day EPA + DHA during 6 months, improve insulin sensitivity in children.
Original title:
Effect of Fish Oil on Insulin Sensitivity in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials by Hou M, Zhou W, [...], Lv H.
Link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33388274/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on EPA + DHA and diabetes right here.