Eating oily fish and seeds in pregnancy can boost children's future brainpower and social skills, research suggests. A study of 9,000 mothers and children in Avon suggested those who consumed less of the essential fatty acid Omega-3 had children with lower IQs.
These children also had poorer motor skills and hand-to-eye coordination, research in the Economist said. The Food Standards Agency says pregnant women should consume only one or two portions of oily fish a week.
A team from the National Institutes of Health in the US analysed data from a long-term study done in Avon, UK. Looking at the effects of Omega-3 intake on 9,000 mothers and their children, the team found mothers with the lowest intake of the essential fatty acid had children with a verbal IQ six points lower than the average.
While those with the highest consumption of mackerel and sardines and other sources of Omega-3 had children, at age three-and-a-half, with the best measures of fine-motor performance, researchers said.