Numerous studies have been devoted to investigating the effects of fish consumption during pregnancy on the health of the baby, but their results are quite contradictory, so it is important to be well informed about the recommended consumption.
On the one hand, they highlight its advantages and affirm that regular consumption in pregnancy has benefits for the brain and would protect against autism, while on the other we know conclusions like the one published in the magazine JAMA Pediatrics, that associates fish consumption in pregnancy with childhood obesity.
Leda Chatzi, a researcher at the University of Crete (Greece), along with other researchers, analyzed the data of 26,184 pregnant women and their children in European and American cohort studies, and followed the children up to the age of 6 years.
The average fish intake during pregnancy varied between the study areas with a range of 0.5 times per week in Belgium to 4.45 times a week in Spain (Spanish women remain the most polluted in Europe). The high consumption of fish was set at an intake of more than three times a week, while the low intake of fish was once a week or less and moderate consumption was established between more than once, but not more than three times a week.
Of the children, 8,215 (31%) were rapidly growing from birth to two years of age, while 4,987 (19.4%) and 3,476 (15.2%) were overweight or obese children in ages 4 and 6, respectively.
Women who they ate fish more than three times a week when they were pregnant gave birth to children with body mass index (BMI) values greater than 2, 4 and 6 years of age compared to women who ate less fish. The magnitude of the effect of fish intake was greater in girls than in boys.
The mother's high fish intake during pregnancy was associated with a increased risk of rapid growth from birth to 2 years and with an increased risk of overweight or obesity for children between the ages of 4 and 6, compared to the mother's fish consumption during pregnancy once a week or less.
According to experts, "the presence of environmental pollutants in fish could provide an explanation for the association observed between the high consumption of fish in pregnancy and the increase in childhood adiposity."
Fish in pregnancy, choose the smallest
Fish is a very beneficial food for pregnant women because of its high content of omega-3, an essential fatty acid for the complete development and functioning of the human brain. They are recommended to consume a wide variety of fish, avoiding consuming the largest species, which are the most contaminated with mercury, whose consumption should be limited.
So what fish to eat during pregnancy? In general, the smallest fish, which are the ones that accumulate the least amount of mercury, and always cooked (to avoid infection by anisakis) such as albacore (and canned tuna) or salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, anchovy or bocarte, mullet , eel, horse mackerel or common chicharro, verdel, palometa, sea trout, dogfish ...
How much fish to consume?
The European Food Safety Agencies (EFSA) recently issued a scientific opinion supporting a weekly consumption of between 150 and 600 grams of fish during pregnancy.
In general, it is recommended not exceed three weekly rations and avoid larger species.
