(Channel4) Children who eat more omega-3 fatty acids have been found to have a decreased risk of developing Type 1 diabetes, according to a new study.
American scientists found dietary intake of the fatty acids in children with a higher risk of diabetes meant they were less likely to develop the condition.
Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease, which is characterised by the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at whether consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids had any effect on this destruction.
Researchers observed 1,770 children at an increased risk of type-1 diabetes - either because they had a parent with diabetes or were a particular genotype - between 1994 and 2006.
They examined whether the acids were associated with "pancreatic islet autoimmunity", or IA, which refers to the development of antibodies against the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
IA was assessed according to the reported dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids of each child from the age of one year, based on a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).
In the follow-up, when the children were around six years old, 58 were found to be positive for IA. Scientists worked out from this that the total omega-3 fatty acid intake was inversely associated with IA risk and reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 55%.
A case-cohort study conducted to gauge the risk of IA in the outer portion of the red blood cell also showed a 37% decreased risk of developing pancreatic islet immunity.
The authors said: "Our study suggests that higher consumption of total omega-3 fatty acids, which was reported on the FFQ, is associated with a lower risk of IA in children at increased genetic risk of type-1 diabetes".