New advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is encouraging pregnant and breastfeeding women to eat two to three servings of seafood each week to help their babies’ brain develop.
After an extensive review of the health effects of eating fish, experts conclude that eating a variety of seafood at least twice each week during pregnancy improves baby brain development. Because pregnant women in the US eat so little seafood each week, most expectant mothers should aim to quadruple the amount of fish they eat to meet the newly proposed draft recommendation.
This advice follows three exhaustive reviews* of the health effects of eating seafood during pregnancy, all of which point to the need for women to eat at least two seafood meals weekly.
“FDA is working to translate years of important nutrition science into updated advice, and that’s exciting,” said Jennifer McGuire from the US National Fisheries Institute. “Expectant moms and health professionals alike have been confused about seafood advice during pregnancy and FDA has begun the process of setting the record straight that fish should be a pregnancy staple.”
“This news begins to mobilize pregnant women to add more fish to their diets,” said Ms McGuire. “It is an important starting point.”
* World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Joint Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption, September 2011
* United States Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Health and Human Services 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, January 2011
