Your Childrens Health

If you’re an expectant mother, then eating one or two portions of oily fish a week is a great idea it seems.  Research done on 9,000 mothers and babies suggests that eating the oily fish during pregnancy can boost your child’s brain powers and social skills after birth.
They key is in the fatty acid Omega-3 it seems.  The research team found that the children of mothers with the lowest intake of this essential fatty acid, found in oily fish and some seeds, had verbal IQs that were six points lower on average.  Mums who ate the most food rich in Omega-3 had children with the best fine-motor performance at the age of three and a half, according to the researchers.
The study follows on from an original piece of research done by Professor Jean Golding of Bristol University.  She told BBC journalists: “The baby’s brain needs Omega-3 fatty acids. It doesn’t create its own fatty acids so it needs to be something that the mother will eat.”
So what should expectant mums do?  Eat two portions of oily fish a week.  But some oily fish is better than others.  Farmed large fish tend to contain more pollutants, so it’s best to go for organic salmon, trout or sardines.  Vegetarians can go for seeds such as pumpkin or hemp, but will need to eat them in fairly large quantities to get the same effects. 

Related:

This entry was posted on Friday, March 31st, 2006 at 10:45 am and is filed under Pregnancy and Newborns, Diet and Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.