Pregnancy and Omega-3
A new study has found that mothers who eat more fish (high in omega-3 fats) during pregnancy have smarter, better-behaved children. Many expected the opposite: They assumed more fish = more mercury = more damage. Here is a newspaper story about it.
The study, which appeared in The Lancet, has an odd title: “Maternal seafood consumption during pregnancy . . . ” — as if paternal seafood consumption during pregnancy could affect the fetus. It involved about 10,000 pregnant women. The seafood/better-brain correlation was seen with several measures, including IQ scores at age 8. The authors tested the explanation that low seafood consumption was simply a marker for an unhealthy diet by taking dietary quality into account in various ways; this had little effect on the results, the authors say.
Current Food and Drug Administration advice to limit seafood consumption during pregnancy may be harmful, the authors note.
Thanks to Timothy Beneke for the pointer.
February 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I really hope they controlled for parental IQ. Just controlling for SES isn’t enough. Do you know if they did?
February 24th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
That’s a good point, although I’m pretty sure it would have been impossible — too much work. They did control for “maternal highest educational attainment.” In one analysis they controlled for paternal seafood consumption and the maternal effect was still present.
March 4th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Is it the Omega-3 or the fish? I think the DHA. I took DHA throughout my pregnancy because of studies I had read about in the book Tomorrow’s Baby - that taking DHA during pregnancy produces larger brain size and smarter children. Now this fish study comes out…wonder who sponsored it! Why not take Neuromins, an algae-form of DHA, and avoid the mercury risk?
This from Wikipedia -
A study[6] found that preterm infants fed baby formulas fortified with DHA derived directly from algae gained weight faster than infants fed formula fortified with DHA from fish oil. Additionally, there are no risks of harmful contaminants such as methyl mercury or dioxins, which are present in fish and fish oils.[citation needed] This is especially important for pregnant and nursing women and young children.
March 4th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Good point.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:13 am
I am a vegetarian and as such do not eat meat. Not because I have any morals to uphold, but simply because I don’t like the taste. Anyway, this leaves me somewhat limited in terms of food to eat. Fortunately I love fish, so when I was pregnant that was pretty much all I ate.
Needless to say my son is a child genius. Well not quite, but he has above average intelligence for his age; coincidence?
December 14th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Fish oils definately is good for mother and child.However,moderate intake should be practised as too much of DHA has been proven to actually imbalance the immune system for the infant.
Once again,the intelligence of a child do depend on how well the brain is stimulated and not soplely on DHA
April 4th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Scientists have discovered disturbing brain abnormality in young babies - check it out
September 14th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I guess in every intake of food, be it fish or supplement, there ought to be an balance, in moderation with gynae’s advice. There are many different kind of fishes and certain are definitely have to to be avoided like swordfish…
I guess fried fish isn’t healthy to eat as well, since fried stuffs are supposed to be one of the unhealthier range of food for consumption..