Harvard Study Finds Pregnant Women who Eat Fish and Breastfeed Longer Have Healthier Babies

Certain fish can provide an excellent source of the essential fatty omega 3, a nutrient that is vital for healthy infant brain development.  Years ago, expecting women were encouraged to consume fish to increase omega 3 intake, but that recommendation had tapered off due to the high amounts of mercury in fish from our polluted waters.  A new study found that moderate consumption is most beneficial for both mother and baby.

The study, conducted by Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, looked at 25, 446 children born to women participating in the Danish Birth Cohort Study.  The cohort study followed pregnant women from 1997 – 2002. 

Children of mothers who ate the most fish during pregnancy had an increased likelihood of better motor and cognitive skills. Prenatal diet was assessed via food frequency questionnaires administered at 6 months of pregnancy, including amounts and types of fish consumed on a weekly basis.  The mothers were interviewed about their infants’ developmental milestones at 6 and 18 months post partum; breastfeeding inquiries were made at 6 months.  Developmental markers included sitting up without support, crawling, responding to sounds, drinking from a cup, or walking unassisted.

It wasn’t just fish consumption that provided a boost in infant development; breastfeeding was also found to be independently beneficial.   Longer duration of breastfeeding was associated with improved infant development, particularly at 18 months, most likely due to the concentration of omega 3 found in breast milk. On average, the women who consumed the most fish had children who were 25% more likely to have higher developmental scores at 6 months, increasing to a 30% advantage at 18 months.  Breastfeeding fared similar to the fish consumption results; the longer the breastfeeding the more the enhanced development.

What You Can Do
In the US, women have been advised to keep fish consumption to no more than 2 servings per week due to potential toxicity of mercury.  Most of the women in this study consumed fish low in mercury such as herring, salmon, and cod thus the nutrient benefits outweighed the risks.  Be sure to talk to your physician about dietary choices throughout your pregnancy and visit the FDA’s website to find a list of the mercury content of each type of fish. This way you can get the benefits of fish consumption, with a lower risk of getting too much mercury.

Resource
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 3, 789-796, September 2008 "Associations of maternal fish intake during pregnancy and breastfeeding duration with attainment of developmental milestones in early childhood: a study from the Danish National Birth Cohort" Emily Oken, et al.

Tags: breastfeeding

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Baby Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.