Increased Maternal Omega 3 Consumption Reduces Risk of Childhood Allergies.

Children of women with a family history of allergic conditions are known to have an elevated risk of developing allergies. That risk may be affected by maternal fatty acid consumption. A study (Maternal fish intake during pregnancy and atopy and asthma in infancy. Clinical and Experimental Allergy 2007; 37: 518-525) evaluated the effect of fish consumption in pregnancy on the incidence of atopy and asthma in the children. Subjects were pregnant women from Minorca, a Spanish Mediterranean island. 462 subjects provided food frequency information and participated through 6.5 years of follow-up. Children’s blood samples were obtained from cord blood and at 4 years of age. Mothers were interviewed at 6, 14 and 24 months after delivery and annually thereafter concerning children’s allergy symptoms. Researchers evaluated atopy by serum IgE levels at 4 years and by skin prick tests at age 6. Persistent wheeze and eczema were diagnosed clinically.In Minorca 86% consume fish at least once a week; 22% ate fish more than twice a week (mean 1.5). Asthmatic mothers (6% of the sample) ate significantly less fish than non-asthmatic women. Atopy was present in 12.6% of children at age 4 and in 14.3% by the age of 6.Frequency of maternal fish consumption was associated with significantly lower incidence of eczema at 1 year and atopic wheeze at 6 years (adjusted for maternal asthma). Increasing fish consumption from once to 2.5 times/week, reduced the eczema rate by 37%. Fish intake was also associated with reduced the risk of a positive skin prick test to house dust mites at age 6, but was not significant after adjusting for maternal asthma and other variables. However, researchers calculated that increasing maternal fish consumption from once a month to once a week would reduce the risk of a positive test for house dust mites by 72% and that boosting consumption from once to 2.5 times/week might reduce atopic wheeze by 82%.