DHA Intake Disparities by Country Income Level: A 2014-2026 Narrative Review

A narrative review synthesizing observational and interventional studies from 2014 to 2026 on docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake and health in adults and older adults. It analyzes disparities according to World Bank Gross National Income (GNI) classification, highlighting inequities between high-income and middle-income countries.

Use Cases

• Analyze reported DHA intake patterns and biochemical concentrations across World Bank GNI classifications to quantify global inequities.
• Investigate the reported associations between DHA levels and health indicators like lipid profiles, triglyceride concentrations, and cardiovascular indicators.
• Examine the synthesized evidence linking DHA status to neurocognitive outcomes such as total brain volume, white matter integrity, and cognitive performance.
• Compare the availability and characteristics of DHA evidence (e.g., sample representativeness) between high-income countries (HICs) and middle-income countries (MICs).

Strengths

• Synthesizes studies published over a 12-year period (2014-2026), providing a contemporary review.
• Explicitly categorizes and analyzes evidence by World Bank Gross National Income (GNI) classification, a key socioeconomic variable.
• Focuses on a specific nutrient (DHA) and population (adults/older adults) for targeted public health insights.

Limitations

• The dataset is a narrative review document (853.5 KB DOCX), not a structured tabular dataset, limiting quantitative analysis.
• The underlying evidence from middle-income countries is described as scarce, heterogeneous, and based on small non-representative samples.
• Findings on associations with certain health outcomes like blood pressure, mortality, memory, and dementia are noted as inconsistent or inconclusive.

Provenance

Source

Author Brenda Valle-Valdez, published on figshare.

Collection Method

Narrative review synthesizing published observational and interventional studies.

Time Range

Studies published between 2014 and 2026.

Freshness

Last updated March 20, 2026.

Geography

Global, with analysis segmented by country income level.