Fish Oil Supplements For Pregnant Moms Boost Kids' Hand-eye Coordination

Our OB/GYN is very strict about limiting the amount of fish that the Philosopher Mom consumes when pregnant (like she is now....). However, she has encouraged the PM to take fish oil supplements that contain various omega fatty acids. Her reason, to date has been that it appears to help with brain development and post-partum depression. A small study in the Archives of Disease in Childhood shows that these supplements boost hand-eye coordination in children whose mothers took them.

The researchers base their findings on 98 pregnant women, who were
either given 4g of fish oil supplements or 4g of olive oil supplements
daily from 20 weeks of pregnancy until the birth of their babies.

Only
non-smokers and those who did not routinely eat more than two weekly
portions of fish were included in the study. Eighty three mothers
completed the study.

Once the children had reached two and a
half years of age, they were assessed using validated tests to measure
growth and development.

These included tests of language,
behaviour, practical reasoning and hand-eye coordination. In all, 72
children were assessed (33 in the fish oil group and 39 in the olive
oil group).

There were no significant overall differences in language skills and growth between the two groups of children

But
those whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements scored more highly
on measures of receptive language (comprehension), average phrase
length, and vocabulary.

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