Eating Fish high in Omega-3 Fatty Acid makes Babies Smarter

January 20th, 2006

Smart Baby

A recent study reported by BBC News said that intelligence in a baby improves with mothers eating Omega-3 rich food during their pregnancy.

The study conducted in Avon, UK, looked at 9,000 mothers and children and found that those who had eaten less of Omega-3, an essential fatty acid, had lower IQs.

Institutes of Health in the US researched and calculated the data gathered in the Avon study and came up with the following statistics. The mothers with the lowest intake of Omega-3 in their diet had children who on average were six points lower on verbal IQ.

The children at age 3 ½ years old who ate the most fish and food with Omega-3 had the best fine-motor skills.

When the children had lower amounts of Omega-3 fatty acid in their diets they was more of a tendency to have problems with social interactions such as making friends. This was the case 14% of the time in 17 year olds whose mother did not eat much Omega-3 during pregnancy compared to 8% that had mothers that had the highest intake of the essential fatty acid.

The researchers strongly believe that the lack of Omega-3 fatty acid in a mother’s diet during pregnancy is extremely important in the developing baby’s brain. The brain is made up of 60% of fat, of which 30% is made up of Omega-3.

The researchers suggest having 1 – 2 servings each week of fatty fish which is high in Omega-3 fatty acid during pregnancy.