Essential fatty acid facts for kids
Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must eat. The body needs them for good health but cannot make them.
Only two fatty acids are essential for humans. When the two EFAs were discovered in 1923, they were called "vitamin F", but in 1929, research on rats showed that the two EFAs are fats rather than vitamins.
Some other fatty acids are "conditionally essential", meaning that they may become essential under some circumstances.
See also
In Spanish: Ácido graso esencial para niños
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Essential fatty acid Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.