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Maternal Fish Intake During Pregnancy

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Study Finds Association of Maternal Fish Intake During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Duration with Developmental Milestones in Early Childhood

A study in the September edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that children born to mothers who had a prenatal higher fish intake, a rich source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and a greater duration of breastfeeding were associated with higher child developmental scores at 6 months and 18 months of age.1  However, the association of fish intake with child development was not affected by breastfeeding duration.

The study examined 25, 446 children born to mothers participating in the Danish National Birth Cohort, a prospective cohort study comprised of pregnant women.  In this study, mothers reported child development by a standardized interview, which the authors used to generate developmental scores at 6 and 18 months of age.  Maternal fish intake was assessed by a self-administered food frequency questionnaire, composed of over 360 questions about the previous month’s foods.  Breastfeeding was assessed at the 6 month postpartum interview, where mothers reported whether they had never breastfed, were currently breastfeeding, or had stopped breastfeeding (and when that was) and again at 18 months, where moms reported if they were still breastfeeding or the child’s age at discontinuation. Breastfeeding was reported as “any breastfeeding,” without distinction between exclusive or mixed feeding.

Strengths of the study include its large sample size, the prospective nature of the study, and the large number of potential predictors of child development assessed.  However, these milestones were maternally reported, which may be less accurate than a blinded professional  assessment of development.  It is possible that mothers who consumed more fish or breastfed for a longer period of time were more likely to report achieved developmental milestones, thus biasing the results.  Additionally, the authors did not measure parental intelligence in their study; a 2006 study by Der et al. found that maternal intelligence can account for the majority of the benefits of breastfeeding on cognition.2

IFC agrees with the researchers, who conclude that “we support ongoing efforts to promote breastfeeding to optimize a variety of health outcomes, including development.”

References Cited:

1 Oken, E., et al., Associations of maternal fish intake during pregnancy and breastfeeding duration with attainment of developmental milestones in early childhood: a study from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Am J Clin Nutr, 2008. 88 (3): p. 789-96.

2 Der, G., G.D. Batty, and I.J. Deary, Effect of breast feeding on intelligence in children: prospective study, sibling pairs analysis, and meta-analysis. BMJ, 2006. 333 (7575): p. 945.