Men's Health Women's Health Senior's Health Antioxidants Sports Nutrition Diet & Weight Loss Vitamins & Minerals Herbs Specialty Supplements Targeted Supplements Spa Products Anti-Aging Basics Body Systems Body Structure Book Store Pet Health My Recommendation My Favorite Articles Our Most Popular Specials Bargain Basement Brands

MSM

Health News Archive 593 - Child Development
<<back to structure/function index

Maternal Omega-3 Consumption Benefits Fetal Brain Development

Higher maternal seafood consumption during pregnancy results in children showing better neurological function than children whose mothers eat low amounts or no seafood during pregnancy, according to an article published in February 2007 The Lancet.

Seafood and supplements are the predominant source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for optimum fetal brain development. However, in the USA, women are advised to limit their seafood intake during pregnancy to 340 g (11 ounces) per week, to avoid fetal exposure to trace contaminants of heavy metals and neurotoxins.

Joseph Hibbeln (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA) and colleagues from Bristol University, analyzed an observational cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), to assess the possible benefits and hazards to a child's development of different levels of maternal seafood intake during pregnancy. Maternal seafood intake during pregnancy of less than 340 g (ie, less than three portions) per week was found to be associated with increased risk of their children being in the lowest quartile of verbal IQ, compared with mothers who consumed more than 340 g per week. Furthermore, low maternal seafood intake was associated with increased risk of suboptimum outcomes for prosocial behavior, fine motor, communication, and social development scores. For each outcome measure, the lower the intake of seafood during pregnancy, the higher the risk of suboptimum developmental outcome.

The authors conclude: "We recorded no evidence to lend support to the warnings of the US advisory that pregnant women should limit their seafood consumption. In contrast, we noted that children of mothers who ate small amounts (<340 g per week) of seafood were more likely to have suboptimum neurodevelopmental outcomes than children of mothers who ate more seafood than the recommended amounts."

The ALSPAC study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) was designed to assess for relationships between dietary patterns during and after pregnancy (including maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy) and subsequent health parameters of the children including neurodevelopmental outcomes and other parameters. The study included 11,875 pregnant women living in Bristol, UK , who completed a food frequency questionnaire which assessed their consumption of seafood (source of omega-3 fatty acids as DHA/EPA) at 32 weeks of gestation. The developmental, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes of the children from age 6 months to 8 years of age were assessed after separating seafood consumption among the women into three groups categorized as none, some ( 1-340 g/week), and >340 g/week of fish / seafood consumption.

Maternal seafood consumption during pregnancy of less than 340 grams per week was associated with an increased risk for their children being in the lowest quartile (bottom 25%) for verbal intelligence quotient (IQ). It is noted that 3 fish servings per week is the equivalent of 340-350 grams of fish/seafood per week in this study. In addition, a low maternal seafood intake was also associated with an increased risk of suboptimum outcomes for social behavior, fine motor, communication, and social development scores. The lower intakes of seafood during pregnancy were associated with higher the risk for suboptimal developmental outcomes in the children. The authors also reported that the lower the fish intake, the more likely the children were to perform poorly in various assessment parameters. Those children of mothers who were found to have consumed no fish were more likely to have poor communication skills at 18 months (28% lower), more likely to have poor fine motor coordination at age 42 months (lower by 35%), more likely to have poor social behavior at age 7 (lower by 44%), and more likely to have a relatively low verbal IQ at age 8 (lower by 48%) when compared with children of women who the highest intakes of fish (> 340 g/week).

The authors also reported that advice to restrict seafood consumption (source of omega-3 fatty acids) during pregnancy could be potentially detrimental and concluded from their results that the overall benefits to the health and well being of the children were greater than the risk of harm from exposure to trace contaminants via three servings of fish per week (approximately 340-350 g/ week). There are a number of good fish oils on the market, but one of the best new ways to get omega-3 polyunsaturated fats - EPA and DHA - is from krill oil.

Source: Hibbeln JR, Davis JM, Steer C, Emmett P, Rogers I, Williams C, Golding J. Maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood (ALSPAC study): an observational cohort study. Lancet. 2007 Feb 17;369(9561):578-85.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/seafood/Lancet%20-%20Hibbeln.pdf

 back to top