Nutrition in the First 1,000 Days: DHA
A Thriving in 1,000 Days CE/CME Curriculum Course

Professor of Nutrition, Susan E. Carlson, PhD, emphasizes the importance of  providing the essential fatty acids, DHA and ARA for brain development and cognition. Sufficient dietary consumption of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids is vital throughout the first 1,000 days, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Prenatal and postnatal DHA affects cortical visual acuity, sustained attention, problem solving ability, as well as brain structure and function. Dr. Carlson reviews the dietary recommended DHA intake for mothers and infants, and outlines a balanced diet after infancy, with foods that contain DHA.

The overarching goal of this curriculum is to improve the clinician’s ability to guide mothers and children toward nutrition that supports optimal growth and development during the first 1,000 days.

• Profile

  Susan E. Carlson, PhD

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  Susan E. Carlson, PhD, is the AJ Rice Professor of Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. Dr. Carlson received her doctorate from Iowa State University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Wisconsin and the University of South Florida.

  Dr. Carlson is director of the Doctorate in Medical Nutrition Science program at the University of Kansas Medical Center and affiliate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She has been active in the education of clinicians about maternal and infant health for many years. Her contributions in research, scholarship, and education were recognized when she was named a University Distinguished Professor.

  Dr. Carlson was instrumental in the establishment of best-practice guidelines for the intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for infants and pregnant women. Her research has involved conducting numerous large clinical trials to evaluate the effect of DHA supplementation on infants and pregnant women. The studies have focused primarily on the cognitive development of infants, but also on their nutritional, physiological and neurological outcomes, following some subjects for several years.

  Dr. Carlson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her pioneering work, which has been recognized both nationally and internationally. She is a frequently invited speaker, a contributor to numerous peer-reviewed articles, chapters, editorials and abstracts, an editor or expert reviewer for more than two-dozen medical journals, and a consultant to a number of pharmaceutical companies.

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  Susan E. Carlson, PhD

  AJ Rice Professor of Nutrition
  Department of Dietetics and Nutrition
  University of Kansas Medical Center
  Kansas City, Kansas