Maternal fish intake during pregnancy, blood mercury levels, and child cognition at age 3 years in a US cohort.

Full Abstract

The balance of contaminant risk and nutritional benefit from maternal prenatal fish consumption for child cognitive development is not known. Using data from a prospective cohort study of 341 mother-child pairs in Massachusetts enrolled in 1999-2002, the authors studied associations of maternal second-trimester fish intake and erythrocyte mercury levels with children's scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA) at age 3 years. Mean maternal total fish intake was 1.5 (standard deviation, 1.4) servings/week, and 40 (12%) mothers consumed >2 servings/week. Mean maternal mercury level was 3.8 (standard deviation, 3.8) ng/g. After adjustment using multivariable linear regression, higher fish intake was associated with better child cognitive test performance, and higher mercury levels with poorer test scores. Associations strengthened with inclusion of both fish and mercury:
effect estimates for fish intake of >2 servings/week versus never were 2.2 (95% confidence interval (CI):
-2.6, 7.0) for the PPVT and 6.4 (95%

CI:
2.0, 10.8) for the WRAVMA; for mercury in the top decile, they were -4.5 (95%

CI:
-8.5, -0.4) for the PPVT and -4.6 (95%

CI:
-8.3, -0.9) for the WRAVMA. Fish consumption of < or =2 servings/week was not associated with a benefit. Dietary recommendations for pregnant women should incorporate the nutritional benefits as well as the risks of fish intake.

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Author information

Author/s: Oken, Emily (E); Radesky, Jenny S (JS); Wright, Robert O (RO); Bellinger, David C (DC); Amarasiriwardena, Chitra J (CJ); Kleinman, Ken P (KP); Hu, Howard (H); Gillman, Matthew W (MW);

Affiliation: Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Boston, MA 02215, USA. emily_oken(-atsign-)harvardpilgrim.org

Grants: ES00002 (Agency:United States NIEHS) ; HD34568 (Agency:United States NICHD) ; HD44807 (Agency:United States NICHD) ; HL68041 (Agency:United States NHLBI) ; P01ES012874 (Agency:United States NIEHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: American journal of epidemiology (Am J Epidemiol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 167 (issue 10) : pp 1171-81

Dates: Created 2008/05/12; Completed 2008/05/13; Revised 2008/07/15;

PMID: 18353804, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jul 15;168(2):236. (PMID: 18556685)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Animals
Aptitude Tests
Child Psychology
Child, Preschool
Cognition - drug effects
Cohort Studies
Diet
Docosahexaenoic Acids - administration & dosage; blood
Eicosapentaenoic Acid - administration & dosage; blood
Female

Fishes
Humans
Intelligence - drug effects
Linear Models
Male
Mercury - adverse effects; blood
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, Second - blood
Prenatal Care
Seafood
United States

Associated Chemicals: Eicosapentaenoic Acid (1553-41-9) ; Docosahexaenoic Acids (25167-62-8) ; Mercury (7439-97-6)

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