Relatively high doses of omega 3-rich fish oil supplements during the second half of pregnancy appear safe and beneficial to the baby.

98 pregnant women were given 4 grams of fish oil (omega 3) supplements or 4 grams of olive oil (omega 6) supplements each day from 20 weeks of pregnancy until the birth of their babies.

Two and a half years latter?

• No overall differences in language skills and growth between the two groups of children
• Children whose mothers took fish oil showed better comprehension, average phrase length, and vocabulary.
• They also had better hand-eye coordination.
• These findings held true even after accounting for the mother’s age and duration of breast-feeding.
• Only non-smokers and those who didn’t routinely eat more than 2 weekly portions of fish were studied.

It would be interesting to follow-up each year to see how long these difference are maintained.

12/23/06 15:26 JR