A study released in July 2004 conducted by researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and published in the Journal of Epidemiology assessed the fish intake of more than 7,400 mothers in the United Kingdom (UK). They found that those who ate fish regularly during pregnancy had children with better language and communication skills by the age of 18 months. . The authors concluded that the women’s mercury levels which were comparable to those seen in women in the U.S. were low and not associated with neurodevelopment problems. Also the study examined fish intake of children at 6 months and at one year of age and found those who ate fish at least once a week had modestly, but consistently higher scores on cognitive tests than those who did not eat fish.

This is the first study of women looking at the benefits of fish consumption among pregnant women and children whose fish consumption patterns and mercury levels are similar to those seen in the U.S. Many of the studies that encourage pregnant women to reduce or not to eat fish are focused on island populations that eat as much as 10 times more fish as compared with American women or include fish such as PCB contaminated whale meat that just is not part of the American diet. Cognitive benefits of fish consumption was recognized with one to three servings per week which is consistent with the advice of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that pregnant women should eat up to 12 ounces a week of fish low in mercury. As part of the new FDA/EPA seafood advisory issued in March 2004, both agencies identified light canned tuna as one of the most commonly consumed types of fish with low mercury levels along with shrimp, salmon, pollock and catfish. The new government advisory also tells pregnant and nursing women that they can safely eat up to 6 ounces a week of canned albacore tuna.