Scientists refute FDA limits on fish for pregnant women

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How Much Fish to Eat While Pregnant?

Experts debate pros, cons of consumption and mercury exposure

 

By Pallarito

HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) --

 

Women who are pregnant should include fish in their diet for optimal maternal

health and fetal growth and development. That much health experts agree on.

But just how much seafood moms-to-be can safely consume without exposing their

unborn babies to dangerous levels of mercury is a matter of ongoing debate.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises women to eat no more than 12

ounces a week, but a coalition of scientists in nutrition and medicine insists

that expectant moms need at least that much.

" Recent data shows us that women are still not eating enough fish, and that's

really alarming, " said Judy Meehan, executive director of the National Healthy

Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, an organization dedicated to disseminating

the latest science on maternal and child health.

" There's simply no other way to get the omega-3s for brain development that you

can from fish, " she said.

Fish is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, a beneficial type of fat that is

considered important for neural development.

Limiting fish intake to the government-recommended level, in fact, could be

" detrimental " to a child's mental development, British and American researchers

reported in 2007 in The Lancet. Their study found that children whose mothers

ate at least three servings of fish a week during pregnancy performed better on

tests of mental function.

In another study, Dr. Oken, an assistant professor in the Department of

Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim

Health Care in Boston, examined the balance between the nutritional benefit and

contaminant risk of consuming fish during pregnancy.

She and her colleagues asked 341 women about their fish consumption during the

second trimester of pregnancy and tested their blood levels for mercury.. When

their children were 3, they took a battery of tests to assess intelligence and

motor skills.

" Test scores were highest in children of mothers who ate more than two weekly

fish servings but had lower mercury levels, suggesting that the greatest benefit

occurred when women ate fish low in mercury, " Oken said.

" Even mothers who ate canned tuna more than twice weekly had children who scored

better on tests, compared with those who did not eat canned tuna during

pregnancy, " she added.

Another study looked at 25,446 children born to Danish mothers. Kids whose moms

ate more fish during pregnancy had better motor and cognitive test scores than

those whose moms ate the least fish.

" Compared with women who ate the least fish during pregnancy, women who at the

most fish -- about 14 ounces per week, on average -- had about a 30 percent

likelihood of better development, about the same advantage a child would get

from being one month older or from breast-feeding for more than one year, " Oken

explained.

The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition partnered with the

Maternal Nutrition Group, an independent group of physicians, researchers and

nutritionists, in 2007 to encourage pregnant women to eat fish as part of a

healthy diet. The concern was that many women were interpreting the FDA

guidelines as a warning and curtailing their fish intake.

The FDA advisory, first issued in 2004, targets women who are pregnant or may

become pregnant as well as nursing mothers and young children. These populations

are urged to avoid certain types of fish that may be higher in mercury and

therefore toxic to a baby's or child's developing nervous system. These include

shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish.

The FDA suggests choosing varieties lower in mercury and eating no more than 12

ounces -- or roughly two meals -- of fish or seafood a week. That upper limit

should include no more than 6 ounces of albacore tuna a week, it says.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists echoes that advice in

its own nutritional guidance.

Still, many Americans, including expectant moms, don't get even two servings a

week.

" The message is, eliminating fish is not a good thing, " Meehan said. " Fish is

uniquely important for brain development in babies. "

More information

The American Pregnancy Association has more on mercury levels in fish.

SOURCES: Judy Meehan, executive director, National Healthy Mothers, Healthy

Babies Coalition, andria, Va.; Oken, M.D., M.P.H., assistant

professor, Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School

and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Boston; U.S. Food and Drug Administration,

Rockville, Md.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Washington,

D.C.

Last Updated: April 11, 2009

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