Fish oil during pregnancy may slash infant allergy

Results of a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study in Sweden have showed that omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy and lactation lowered the occurrence of eczema and food allergies in children by 16 and 13 percent, respectively.

The study comprised 145 pregnant women who had allergies, or had partners or other children with allergies. Starting at the 25th week of their pregnancy, and continuing for between three and four months of breastfeeding, the women were randomly assigned to receive either daily fish oil supplements providing 1.6 g of EPA and 1.1 g of DHA, or placebo.

When the researchers subsequently conducted a range of tests, they observed a 2% prevalence of food allergy in the omega-3 group, compared to 15% in the placebo group. Furthermore, the incidence of IgE-associated eczema was only 8 per cent in the omega-3 group, compared to 24 per cent in the placebo group.

Reference: Furuhjelm et al. 2009. Acta Paediatrica. DOI: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2009.01355.x