{"id":3109,"date":"2023-03-16T18:20:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T18:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.horizon.com\/?p=3109"},"modified":"2025-08-01T12:54:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:54:29","slug":"a-closer-look-at-dha-choline-and-prebiotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizon.com\/about-us\/resources\/dha-choline-prebiotics\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Look at DHA, Choline, and Prebiotics"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"article-hero\"> <div class=\"gy-cloud1\" data-aos=\"fade-up\" data-aos-anchor-placement=\"center-bottom\" data-aos-duration=\"600\"><\/div><div class=\"gy-cloud2\" data-aos=\"fade-up\" data-aos-anchor-placement=\"center-bottom\" data-aos-delay=\"400\" data-aos-duration=\"600\"><\/div><div class=\"gy-cloud3 hidden-xs\" data-aos=\"fade-up\" data-aos-anchor-placement=\"center-bottom\" data-aos-delay=\"600\" data-aos-duration=\"600\"><\/div><div class=\"rnd-img\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/profile-pic.png\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"\"> <\/div><div class=\"content\"> <div class=\"copy\"> <h1>A closer<br class=\"visible-xs\"> look at DHA,<br\/> choline, and<br class=\"visible-xs\"> prebiotics <\/h1> <h3>Written by our Horizon Organic Dietitian, Alysse Ritter, MS, RD <\/h3> <\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"article\"> <div class=\"content\"> <div class=\"left\"> <a href=\"\/about-us\/resources\/\" class=\"back-link\"><&nbsp;&nbsp;Parent Resources<\/a> <p>We know how important proper nutrition is during childhood. Offering a wide variety of nutrients, dairy products are an easy way to help young children get high-quality protein, vitamin D, calcium, and as pediatricians note, a fat that can serve as an energy source  including for rapidly growing brains. <\/p><p>Developed with pediatricians, Growing Years\u00ae Organic Milk offer the goodness of dairy, along with a special bundle of added key nutrients: DHA Omega-3, choline, and prebiotics. Let\u2019s take a look at why these nutrients are so important. <\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/post1\/img1.jpg\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"\"> <h3>DHA Omega-3 helps support brain health.<\/h3> <p>While our bodies can make a small amount of the fatty acid DHA, the process is not very efficient. DHA is best consumed through foods and dietary supplements. Common food sources of DHA include seafoods, such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna, as well as certain types of algae. <\/p><p>Currently, the FDA has not established a daily recommended amount of DHA. However, some important agencies have suggested minimum daily amounts for different ages. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the following recommendations have been made: <\/p><ul><li>Children 2 to 4 years: 100-150mg of EPA (another type of Omega-3 fatty acid) and DHA per day<\/li><li> Children 4 to 6 years: 150-200mg of EPA and DHA per day <\/li><li> Children 6 to 10 years: 200-250mg of EPA and DHA per day <\/li><\/ul> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/post1\/img2.jpg\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"\"> <p>According to What We Eat in America, NHANES 2015-2016 data, children aged 2 to 5 years consume an average of 20mg of DHA per day and children aged 6 to 11 years consume 30mg of DHA per day. <\/p><p>DHA is important to help support brain health but can be hard to get into kids\u2019 everyday diets. A one-cup serving of Growing Years milk contains 50mg of DHA. <\/p><p>How does DHA get to the brain? That\u2019s why Growing Years products also contain choline. <br\/><br\/><\/p><h3>Choline helps transport DHA.<\/h3> <p>Sometimes categorized as one of the B-complex vitamins, choline is involved in many processes in the body. Much like a delivery truck, choline plays a role in helping to bring DHA to the brain, so this important fatty acid can then be incorporated into brain cell membranes. <\/p><p>Our bodies can make choline, but not in adequate amounts, which means it must be consumed in food or supplements. Both animal and plant food sources contain choline, including eggs, beef, chicken, and soybeans, among many others. According to the Institute of Medicine, the daily adequate intake for choline in young children is: <\/p><ul><li>Children 1 to 3 years: 200mg per day <\/li><li>Children 4 to 8 years: 250mg per day <\/li><\/ul> <p>Every serving of Growing Years milk contains a good source of choline. <\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/post1\/img3.jpg\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"\"> <h3>Preibiotics: good for little bellies.<\/h3> <p>According to the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a prebiotic is defined as \u201ca substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit.\u201d <\/p><p>This is a fancy way of saying certain compounds act as food to \u201cfeed\u201d the good bacteria in the gut to promote their growth. Increasing the growth of the beneficial gut bacteria can then lead to a health benefit to us (their host). A prebiotic substrate can include certain types of dietary fibers, as well as other non-carbohydrate compounds. <\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/post1\/img4.jpg\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"\"> <p>A prebiotic is different than a probiotic, which is defined by ISAPP as a live and specific microorganism that leads to a benefit in the host when given in adequate amounts. <\/p><p>Derived from chicory root, the prebiotics used in Growing Years<sup>&reg;<\/sup> products come from inulin, which is a type of dietary fiber. As dietary fiber, the inulin counts toward total fiber intake for the day. From the Institute of Medicine, the daily adequate intake for fiber in young children is: <\/p><ul><li>Children 1 to 3 years: 19g per day <\/li><li>Children ages 4 to 8 years: 25g per day <\/li><\/ul> <p>However, according to data from What We Eat in America, NHANES 2015-2016, many young children on average consume just above half of these recommendations. The data reports that the average daily fiber consumption is 12.1g per day for boys 2-5 years and 11g per day for girls 2-5 years. For slightly older children, the average fiber intake is 14.7g per day for boys 6-11 and 14g per day for girls 6-11 years. <\/p><p>Growing Years whole and reduced fat milk each contain 1g of prebiotics per one-cup serving. <\/p><a href=\"\/about-us\/resources\/\" class=\"btn primary\">All Parent Resources<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"right\"> <div class=\"social-icons\"> <span>Share<\/span> <ul> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/horizon.com\/about-us\/resources\/dha-choline-prebiotics\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fb\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-label=\"Facebook Share\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/horizon.com\/about-us\/resources\/dha-choline-prebiotics\/\" class=\"pt\" aria-label=\"Pinterest Share\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/div><div class=\"callouts\"> <div class=\"item\"> <h3>Our Growing Years<sup>&reg;<\/sup> lineup<\/h3> <a href=\"\/organic-dairy-products\/growing-years\/\" aria-label=\"Growing Years\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/horizon\/assets\/images\/parent-resources\/callout-gy-v4.jpg\" class=\"responsive\" alt=\"Growing Years\"><\/a> <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A closer look at DHA, choline, and prebiotics Written by our Horizon Organic Dietitian, Alysse Ritter, MS, RD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About DHA, Choline, and Prebiotics for Children<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We know how important proper nutrition is during childhood. 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