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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women who take fish oil supplements while they are pregnant pass on some health benefits to their children.
Researchers gave pregnant women either four grams of fish oil supplements or four grams of olive oil supplements every day from the 20th week of pregnancy until they gave birth. They then measured the children's growth and development at age 2 and a half.
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The study found no significant differences overall in language skills and growth between the two groups of children. However, the kids whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements during pregnancy tested better in comprehension, average phrase length, and vocabulary. They also scored much higher in hand-eye coordination than those whose moms took the olive oil supplements.
Results show high cord blood levels of Omega-3 fatty acids at birth from the fish oil were strongly associated with good hand-eye coordination, but low levels of Omega-6 fatty acids found in many vegetable oils were not.
The authors say pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplements are becoming more popular because of concerns about mercury content in some types of fish.
They add relatively high doses of Omega-3 rich fish oil supplements in the second half of pregnancy do not seem to have any negative effects on neurodevelopment or growth.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, published online December 20, 2006
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