Eating fish during pregnancy boosts a child’s mental power and physical strength, according to a new study.
Researchers said the study also showed that eating fish is safe.
Several studies have confirmed the popular belief that pregnant women should eat the occasional meal of fish to help their child.
But researchers have been concerned about the effects of pollutions and minerals in the sea – which can lead to the poisonous metal mercury accumulating in fish and other sea-food.
One American study found that the effects of mercury cancelled out the benefits of fish.
Researcher Dr Emily Oken said women could avoid the hazards of mercury by eating fish low in the substance – such as cod, plaice, salmon, herring and mackerel.
The latest findings come from a study of 25,000 children in Denmark.
They also show that additional breast-feeding also helps a baby’s development.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that children of 18 months were most likely to be in an advanced state of development if their mothers ate fish during pregnancy. They were 30 per cent more likely to have high levels of development than the children of mothers who ate least fish.
Dr Oken, of Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA, said: “These results, together with findings from other studies of women in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, provide additional evidence that moderate maternal fish intake during pregnancy does not harm child development and may on balance be beneficial.”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 3, 789-796, September 2008
Leave a Reply