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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research reveals mothers who eat seafood during pregnancy have kids with better brain function than those born to mothers who eat little or no seafood during pregnancy.
Seafood contains Omega-3 fatty acids -- nutrients essential for optimal brain development in growing fetuses. However, a 2004 U.S. advisory suggested pregnant women limit their intake of seafood to 340 grams per week. The advisory was aimed at reducing the potential harmful effects on the brain from pollutants like mercury in seafood.
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Researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Bristol University in England studied roughly 12,000 pregnant women who completed a food questionnaire assessing their seafood consumption at 32 weeks gestation.
Results of the study reveal women who ate less than 340 grams of fish a week (less than three portions) were more likely to have children in the lowest quartile of verbal IQ, when compared to mothers who ate more than 340 grams per week. Low seafood consumption was also associated with a higher risk of suboptimal outcomes for prosocial behavior, fine motor, communication and social development scores. Researchers found the lower the seafood consumption, the higher the risk of a suboptimal outcome.
In previous studies, researchers linked insufficient Omega-3 fatty acid consumption during pregnancy to intrauterine growth retardation, delayed or less than optimal depth perception, unfavorable neurodevelopmental measures, deficits in fine motor skills, and irreversible deficits in important brain chemicals.
Study authors write, "Advice that limits seafood consumption might reduce the intake of nutrients necessary for optimum neurological development." They go on to write, "We recorded no evidence to lend support to the warnings of the U.S. advisory that pregnant women should limit their seafood consumption. In contrast, we noted that children of mothers who ate small amounts (less than 340 grams per week) of seafood were more likely to have suboptimum neurodevelopmental outcomes than children of mothers who ate more seafood than the recommended amounts."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The Lancet, 2007;369:578-585
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