Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation in Children

Following counseling on dietary and lifestyle changes to lower triglyceride levels, and a period of applying these modifications, children will be assigned in a random fashion to take either fish oil supplements or a placebo (soybean/corn oil) for 8 weeks. After this 8-week treatment period, children will not take a supplement for 4 weeks and then will be assigned the alternate product (fish oil or placebo) for another 8 weeks. Our main interest is to see whether there is a larger decrease in triglyceride levels after taking the fish oil supplement compared to the placebo. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether omega-3 fatty acid supplements, given at therapeutic dosages over an 8-week period, significantly decrease elevated serum TG in children with CKD; The secondary objectives of this study are: i. To evaluate the effect of n-3 fatty acid supplements on total-, LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol; ii. To determine whether n-3 fatty acid supplements are well tolerated by our study participants; and iii. To test whether TG-lowering effects are sustained up to 4 weeks after stopping supplements.