Eat Fish and Breastfeed Longer

A study in Denmark has found that a mom's diet of more fish during the pregnancy (so long as it's not tuna sashimi and other sushi) and breastfeeding a baby longer are linked to better physical and cognitive development in infants.

Quoting the article from Medical News Today:

"The children whose mothers ate the most fish during pregnancy were more likely to have better motor and cognitive skills. For example, among mothers who ate the least fish, 5.7% of their children had the lowest developmental scores at 18 months, compared with only 3.7% of children whose mothers had the highest fish intake. Compared with women who ate the least fish, women with the highest fish intake (about 60 grams - 2 ounces - per day on average) had children 25% more likely to have higher developmental scores at 6 months and almost 30% more likely to have higher scores at 18 months. "

Now, isn't it lucky that fish is super abundant here in the Philippines? Sure, gone are the days when they're cheaper than other meats (because they no longer are, even the lowly galunggong already costs over P100/kilo... except maybe in the provinces where they are caught) but it's still really great that we've been blessed with such an abundance of fresh water and salt water fish. They even throw away giant tuna caught in Calapan because there isn't means available to trade them in Manila in place just yet.

So Moms... eat fish! I know fish is one of the more common aversions during pregnancy but that usually lasts for up to the first trmester only. Plus, you can make do with fresh water fish like milkfish and tilapia. Or you can be creative in cooking up your fish.

nd as always, breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed!