As concerns grow over insufficient DHA intake among infants and toddlers, baby and kids health food brand Kim SeokjinLAB is launching a new oil-based omega-3 product. Kim SeokjinLAB said on Monday it will sell “Our Child DHA Smart Drops” for growing children from Aug. 5 on Dr. Simone Mall and Naver Smart Store.

The product supplies DHA, a fatty acid that makes up the brain and retina, using plant-based ingredients. It uses DHA in a TG (triglyceride) form similar to fatty acid structures found in nature and follows ingredient specifications applied to infant formula manufacturing. It also blends Korean perilla oil rich in alpha-linolenic acid, a precursor fatty acid of omega-3.

According to research presented by Yoo-jin Kim (김유진), a professor in the Department of Food and Nutrition at Ewha Womans University, at the 2018 fall conference of the Korean Nutrition Society, 91.8 percent of 829 infants and toddlers aged 12 to 24 months did not consume the recommended amount of DHA. The study analyzed that intake gaps widen when children begin eating complementary foods. The product was developed in an oil form to suit age groups that have difficulty taking capsules, and is taken by dropping about 1 mL twice a day with a dropper into complementary foods, formula or soup.

A Hecto Healthcare official said the company planned the product to help parents manage nutrition for children’s “growth golden time” through everyday diets such as complementary foods or formula. The official said it will continue to introduce products that make it easy to supplement nutrition needed at each growth stage based on scientific evidence.