London: Women who consume oily fish while pregnant or during breast-feeding may decrease the risk of their children developing food allergies, asthma, eczemas or hay fever, researchers have found.
The findings have showed that children introduced to fish and eggs major source of omega 3 fatty acids before 11 months of age had a lower risk of developing allergies.
“Fish intake in the family seems to reduce the risk of allergies,” said Karin Jonsson from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, in a statement.
Kids who eat fish, eggs and flour early in life were found to have less allergies, as they had higher levels of omega-3 in their blood.
The results showed that at birth, and again at four months of age, the healthy children had higher proportions of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA, in their blood.
“The levels corresponded with the mother’s intake of fatty fish. The mothers of children with high proportions of omega-3 in the blood had been eating a lot of fish during pregnancy and lactations, and we could also see evidence of this in their breastmilk,” Jonsson explained.
