KU scientists and center director among experts calling for revision of federal food and nutrition guidance during pregnancy

LAWRENCE — Members of a University of Kansas research team who have long studied the role of pre- and postpartum nutrition on child development are among dozens of researchers in the U.S. and Europe warning about the dangers of restricting fish consumption during pregnancy.  

John Colombo, professor of psychology and director of the KU Life Span Institute, and Susan Carlson, the AJ Rice Professor of Nutrition in the KU Department of Dietetics & Nutrition and a University Distinguished Professor at KU Medical Center, joined colleagues from around the world in calling on changes to federal advisories in the journal NeuroToxicology. Colombo and Carlson established a collaborative laboratory over 25 years ago that spans the Lawrence and Medical Center campuses to pursue interdisciplinary research on the effects of prenatal and postnatal nutrition on neurodevelopment. 

“For decades, pregnant women have been advised to avoid eating seafood during pregnancy due to the risk of environmental contaminants. The published commentary urges a rebalancing of that risk assessment, now that we know the importance of nutrients in fish that are essential for development of the central nervous system,” Colombo said. 

Based on federal advice from 2001 to limit fish consumption to 12 ounces per week during pregnancy, women often reduce or eliminate fish consumption during pregnancy out of concern for the safety of the developing fetus. Research in 2012 found that following the advisory, the median consumption of fish decreased to 1.8 ounces of fish a week for pregnant women. Additionally, just 8% of surveyed in 2014 ate more than 8 ounces a week while pregnant. 

The commentary, headed up by Philip Spiller, previously of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, raised concern that such advisories may actually be encouraging pregnant women to avoid nutrients that lead to substantial gains to their children’s neurodevelopment by strictly limiting fish intake. 

The paper suggests that if all pregnant women in the U.S. were to eat optimum amounts of fish, “gains of up to six points would cause average population-wide IQ to shift appreciably upward." 

The researchers called for updating scientific advice to give health care providers and patients accurate information about the need for omega-3s found in fish.