Newborns whose mothers ate fish more than three times a week during pregnancy grew faster in their first two years of life and were more likely to be overweight or obese at 4 and 6 years old than were babies born to mothers who ate little to no fish during pregnancy, a new study says.
In a large study conducted across several countries, researchers found that the weight-related effects of a mother’s high fish consumption was more pronounced when the offspring was female.
Researchers suggested two explanations for their finding: That the Omega-3 fatty acids found plentifully in fish might predispose foetal stem cells to differentiate into fat cells, or that pollutants found in fish disrupt fetal hormones related to metabolism and prompt greater fat storage. But they acknowledged that the possibility that contaminants are to blame for the effect is “speculative”, since the study’s authors had no measure of the persistent organic pollutants in the fish the women ate.
In July 2014, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency recommended that pregnant women eat two to three servings (8-12 ounces) of fish per week. The agencies’ advisory recommended that pregnant women steer clear of fish known to be contaminated with mercury (tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico, shark, swordfish and king mackerel, for example) and choose instead salmon, shrimp, pollock, light canned tuna, tilapia, catfish and cod.
The authors of the new study, published last Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, said their findings “are in line with” the EPA and FDA advisory.
The study tracked 26,184 pregnant women and their children, born between 1996 and 2011 in the United States and across Europe. They observed the growth patterns and weight status of the children up to the age of 6 years old. The pregnant women, who answered questionnaires about their food intake, reported they ate anywhere from less than half a serving of fish weekly (in the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland) to as many as seven servings of fish per week (in Spain and Portugal).
The Massachusetts women that made up the US study cohort ate an average of one to two servings of fish per week.
Source: www.latimes.com
