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Eating Seafood is important to good health especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Fri, 01/02/2009 - 4:59pm — staff2Fish is rich in many nutrients, including healthful omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain and eye development in babies. Fish is also good for mom’s brain, heart and weight.
Follow these recommendations for eating fish if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or when feeding fish to young children.
Eat a variety of seafood
Eat 12 oz of seafood every week (2-3 meals)
Half of the fish you eat every week (6 oz) can be white albacore tuna
Do not eat shark, king mackerel, tilefish and swordfish
Eating a variety of seafood 2-3 times per week provides the Omega-3s, called DHA, that you and your baby need without introducing concerns about mercury. In fact, international experts recommend that pregnant and nursing women get at least 200 milligrams of Omega-3 DHA every day. Here’s how much you get per serving of the 10 most popular fish- all of which test well below U.S. and global standards for levels of mercury.
Most popular Seafood (3 ounces) Omega-3 DHA fats (milligrams)*
1. Shrimp 122
2. Canned white Tuna 535
Canned Light Tuna 190
3. Salmon 1238
4. Pollock 383
5. Tilapia 111
6. Catfish 109
7. Crab 196
8. Cod 131
9. Clams 124
10. Scallops 169
*Source: USDA National Nutrient Database
For advise about eating fish and other foods during pregnancy, go to http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/
For more nutrition recommendations, visit http://www.mypyramid.gov/
For more information about fish caught by family and friends, check your local fishing advisory.
This article is supported by:
Food Marketing Institute
International Food Information Council
National Fisheries Institute
National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
