Prenatal omega-3 boosts babies' brain and eye development: Study

Pregnant women, who eat enough omega-3 fats in their third trimester, give their babies a major brain-power boost later in life, a new study finds.

Among 109 infants examined in the course of the study, those whose umbilical-cord blood was higher in docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 acid, at birth scored better in tests of infant brain and eye development at the ages of 6 and 11 months, researchers found.

Experts recommend pregnant women to get an average of 300 mg of DHA daily during pregnancy. DHA is one of the major omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish like salmon, sardines and tuna.

"This study adds to a growing body of evidence regarding the importance of DHA for third-trimester fetal brain development," noted lead researcher Dr. Joseph L. Jacobson, of Wayne State University in Detroit.

The level of DHA in newborns' cord blood was closely related to the DHA concentrations in their mothers' blood at the time of delivery.

Additionally, when the babies were 6 months old, they were given standard tests of visual acuity and memory. Higher cord-blood DHA at birth was linked to better performance on these tests, the researchers found.

Similar results were seen when the babies were given tests of cognitive and motor development at the age of 11 months.

Besides fish, such as salmon, sardines and tuna, other DHA sources include fish oil supplements and algae-derived DHA, which is included in some prenatal vitamins. However, expectant and breast-feeding mothers should avoid fish categories, especially shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tile fish, for potentially high levels of mercury.

Moreover, researchers found no correlation between the infants' test performance and DHA received from breast milk.

This is probably because mothers' third-trimester DHA intake is more important than babies' consumption of breast-feeding as third trimester is "critical for brain growth spurt," Jacobson explained.

The findings feature in the current issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.