Women who eat little or no fish during early pregnancy are more likely to
give birth prematurely, according to a study in Denmark. A team led by
Sj煤r冒ur Fr贸冒i Olsen at the Statens Serum Institute in
Copenhagen asked almost 9000 pregnant women if they ate fish and how often. They
found that as fish consumption went up, low birth weight and premature birth
decreased (British Medical Journal, vol 324, p 447).
Just over 7 per cent of women who never ate fish had a premature delivery,
compared with 1.9 per cent of women who ate fish at least once a week. 鈥淚t seems
that one factor is the mother鈥檚 intake of the fatty acids [found in fish],鈥� says
Olsen.