Fish is a Brain Food for Fetus

Eating fish during pregnancy could help expecting mothers improve their children’s early development and IQs, a joint British and American study says, seemingly in contradiction with earlier U.S. researches which suggested pregnant women to limit their intake of seafood to avoid exposing fetus to mercury levels that restrict brain development in young children.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Bristol in Britain, and the University of Illinois-Chicago said seafood is a key source of omega-3 fatty acids, which is super beneficial for fetal brain development.

In their study published Thursday in the British journal Lancet, the British and American scientists suggest that women who eat much fish or other seafood during pregnancy could have brainier children than those who eat little. Lack of fish may cause poor motor skill development, researchers said.

In 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly advised pregnant and nursing women to limit the consumption of fish, shellfish or other seafood to 340 grams a day because of concerns about levels of toxic mercury in fish.

On contrary, the recent study says that advice to inhibit seafood intake could actually be injurious to a child's health.

The researchers reach their conclusion after a study of almost 9,000 British families taking part in the 'Children Of The 90s' project at the University of Bristol.

After analyzing data of British mothers and their children over an eight-year period the researchers found pregnant women who consumed less than 340 grams of seafood a week did not protect their children from adverse neuro-developmental outcomes.

Mothers who consumed lesser amounts increased their child's risk of poor verbal IQ development compared to mothers who ate more than 340 grams a week. These children also had a greater risk of poor social development and poor motor control, the researchers said.

Children whose mothers consumed more than 340 grams (12 ounces-about two average meals) were more advanced in developmental tests measuring fine motor, communication and social skills as toddlers, behaved better at age 7, and earned higher verbal IQ scores at age 8, the researchers found.

The results were more surprising when data compared with those kids whose mothers ate no seafood. These children were 48 percent more likely to have a comparatively low verbal IQ score at age 8 compared to children whose mothers ate the higher amount of seafood.

"It was very surprising," Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a U.S. National Institutes of Health researcher who led the study said in a telephone interview. "We did not expect such clear-cut results of the harm of low seafood consumption."

The US health agency has not yet seen the study and would need to review it before making any comments, an FDA spokesman said.