Eating Fish in Pregnancy Boosts Baby's Intelligence

Published: 15 April, 2008

Pregnant women who regularly eat fish can give their children a head start in life by boosting their intelligence, a study has found.

The children of mothers who ate fish more than twice a week during their second trimester were better in language and motor skill tests, research at Harvard University found.

But the study also showed the effects may depend on the type of fish eaten. The study, which monitored more than 300 children at three stages of development, counters advice that pregnant women should avoid fish because it can contain toxic chemicals.

‘Dietary recommendations for pregnant women should incorporate the nutritional benefits as well as the risks of fish intake,' the report, which was published last week in the American Journal of Epidemiology, concludes.