Posted on 01/19/2006 6:38:52 PM PST by blam
Fish diet 'brings a brighter baby'
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
(Filed: 20/01/2006)
Pregnant women who eat more fish, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, tend to have brighter, more sociable children, claim researchers.
The amount of omega-3 helps to determine the child's intelligence, fine motor skills - the ability to manipulate small objects and hand and eye co-ordination - and the propensity to anti-social behaviour, says a study by Dr Joseph Hibbeln, of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Omega-3 is found in oily fish like salmon
The findings, which were presented to a meeting in London this week, show that the children of women who consumed the smallest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids during their pregnancies had a verbal IQ six points lower than average.
This is striking because pregnant women have been advised to limit their consumption of oily fish and seafood in order to avoid exposing their foetuses to trace amounts of dioxins and brain-damaging methyl mercury.
Dr Hibbeln, whose research is reported today in the Economist, says that his work shows that the benefits of eating such foods vastly outweigh the risks. The findings show that the children of women who consumed the smallest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids during their pregnancies had a verbal IQ six points lower than average.
Dr Hibbeln worked with Prof Jean Golding from Bristol University's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which has data on 14,000 expectant mothers and their offspring, so that he could study the effects of omega-3 intake.
The researchers found that at 3½ years of age, those children with the best measures of motor performance had mothers with the highest intake of omega-3s. A low intake during pregnancy led to higher levels of pathological social interactions such as an inability to make friends as a child grew up, which are also linked to antisocial behaviour in later life.
About 14 per cent of seven-year-olds whose mothers had the lowest intake of omega-3s in pregnancy demonstrated such behaviour, compared with eight per cent born to women on high-intake.
Fish is a good source of omega-3 but because of dioxins, the Food Standards Agency recommends that women who might have a child one day, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, should have only two portions of oily fish a week.
I never grill a fish without the skin on at least one side.
I love the way the skin and ?fat? taste. Isn't that where most of those Omega whatevers are?
Wow I just got a FR time warp. Weird.
Yeah. It's just like vegetables, a lot of the nutrients are in the skins.
Be careful, I'm told that some of the supplements have mercury too.
Isn't that where most of those omega fatty acids are? In the fat just under the skin?
Oh yes. That's why when I can afford NuTru I get it. Otherwise, I have to get creative with combining seeds to get the Omega 3's and everything else.
disregard the second post. I think the site is having some problems. I have been given error messages on some of my posts.
My Mother took Cod Liver Oil while pregnant and gave it to us every damn day until we were 6 or 8.
The democrats are trying to hack the system again.
God knows how my kids are finally going to turn out. When I was pregnant I ate anything that couldn't outrun me.
Me too. I even got booted off somehow.
Anyway. I was gonna say watch the mercury levels in the suppliments too. I'm told some have mercury in them, too.
Just another thing my kids will blame me for. I hate fish.
You MUST be purty smart, then????
DUmmy #1: Let's have a BABY!
DUmmy #2: I hear fish raises the IQ
FReepers: YOU TWO HAD BETTER EAT A WHALE!
Mmmmm!!! Mercury!
Yep. I take it, my wife takes it (and did so through both pregnancies and through breastfeeding), son #1 takes it. (Son #2 is still getting it indirectly through breastmilk.) It seems to work. Their development and coordination is surprising for their age.
BTW, Cod Liver Oil also has plenty of Vit. A and D, both of which (especially D) are very severely lacking in the US diet. Just to point out one effect -- virtually all need for orthodontia would be eliminated if we got enough D from prenatal period on.
Go here: Cod Liver Oil Info and here: More on Cod Liver Oil and here: Primitive Nutrition
wapf ping
Oh. And I don't suppose that mothers who eat intelligently are, say, more intelligent than those who don't.
This "study" doesn't show anything. But it's nice to see liberals spew about what they ordinarily consider to be a mere "racist construct."
Brighter? No mention of wattage though.
When my son was a baby he had a full, round face. As he grew older his face and jaw became more narrow. Then I read that vitamin D would help bone structure and started giving cod liver oil and other healthy foods. His face began to round out again. He has never had a cavity. He is now in his 30's and serving in Afghanistan. I also avoided sugary foods.
I am beginning to think that vitamin D may help prevent winter depression (SAD). Conventional wisdom has said 400 IU per day, but I think some people may need 1,000 to 1,500 IU per day, especially if they are big, and don't get out in the sun much.
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