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Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), especially linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (AA), alphalinolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are essential to infant growth and development during early life. Up till now, there is only limited number of studies with large sample size on LC-PUFA in breast milk in China. In order to better understand the LC-PUFA levels in Chinese women, we report an analysis that included 44 studies of 3815 subjects from the latest 10-year peer-reviewed papers of breast milk studies of fatty acid profiles from China and other regions: Asia (excluding China), Europe, America and Africa. The results showed that Chinese women had significantly higher LA and ALA levels in the breast milk than European and other Asian women. The DHA level in the breast milk of Chinese women meets the Chinese and international recommended intake for young infants. This review provides comprehensive investigation on the LC-PUFA levels in the mature milk of Chinese women in most recent publications and server as a reference for further studies on human milk in China.

The trend towards a globalized and knowledge-based society is one of the development hallmarks of the twenty-first century, and there have been numerous education reforms in response to this trend. Engineering education is no exception. Traditionally, engineering education places heavy emphasis on technical aspects, such as mathematical and scientific fundamentals. This heavy focus on the theory and technical aspects often hinders other professions from understanding the world of engineering. As a result, the general public often views engineering as a field that is isolated and difficult to comprehend, which also limits the development of engineering (Morris et al. in Eur J Eng Educ 32(2):135–142, 2007). However, it has become increasingly difficult to perform professionally in this evolving global environment within traditional curricular (National Academy of Engineering in The engineer of 2020: Visions of engineering in the new century. National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2004). The National Academy of Engineering forecasts that, in 2020, engineers not only need to be technically competent, but also be trained in other ‘soft skills’, such as civic responsibility, intercultural competence, leadership, communication and management, for them to be able to contribute to society (Galloway in Civ Eng Mag Arch 77(11):46–104, 2007). In this chapter, we present an engineering service-learning subject that was designed to incorporate major and non-major students. This multidisciplinary subject, which incorporates an international service-learning project, aims to provide a holistic learning experience that raises the problem-solving skills and general knowledge for all students, in particular, to teach students about the impact of engineering on society, and human and societal factors in engineering. Course design, challenges that we encountered, impacts on major and non-major students, and the limitations of this multidisciplinary approach will be discussed.