Consuming fish at an early stage can protect babies against developing asthma later, a new study says.
A team of Dutch researchers looked at 7,210 children born between 2002 and 2006 in the Netherlands to examine the importance of timing in introducing fish into a baby's diet and his/her asthma risks. They found that consuming fish between six and 12 months reduces asthma risks compared to adding fish to the diet before or after that period.
"Introduction of fish between 6 and 12 months but not fish consumption afterward is associated with a lower prevalence of wheezing," the authors wrote. "A window of exposure between the age of 6 and 12 months might exist in which fish might be associated with a reduced risk of asthma."
However, it is a well-known fact that almost all fish and shell fish contain traces of mercury. To avoid exposure to the negative effects of mercury, parents often delay introducing fish to their little ones. Of the total children, more than 1,000 children started eating fish before turning six months, a majority (5,498) started eating fish after six months, and more than 400 started consuming fish after their first year.
Proving their theory, researchers found a significant number of children (between 40 and 45 percent) who didn't start consuming fish before 12 months having asthma symptoms later.
The introduction of fish before six months was also associated with similar risks. On the other hand, adding fish to the diet between six and 12 months was found lowering the risks by 36 percent.
"They found it was only protective between six and 12 months," T. Bernard Kinane, chief of the pediatric pulmonary unit for MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, who was not involved in the study, told Times Colonist. "That would make reasonable sense because that's when the immune system is getting educated."
The findings of the study have been published in Pediatrics.
Eating fish rich in nutrients and vitamins helps a baby's healthy growth. Previous studies have shown that eating fish is crucial to ensure a healthy development of the nervous system, and children of women following a diet rich with fish had higher IQs when compared to those who avoided fish during pregnancy.
