| Abstract Title: | No adverse associations between high fish consumption in pregnancy and child neurodevelopment in the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 1 |
| Presenter Name: | Alison Yeates |
| Company/Institution: | Ulster University |
| Session: | Human Exposure and Risk Assessment of Hg |
| Day and Session: | Tuesday 26th July - Session One |
| Start Time: | 07:30 UTC |
| Co-Authors: | Alison Yeates |
Abstract Information :
Fish is a rich source of nutrition for both mother and fetus during pregnancy, but also a source of exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg). Observational epidemiology studies support that fish consumption in pregnancy benefits child neurodevelopment. Yet many of these studies are in low fish-consuming populations. Within the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 1 (NC1) (n=229), we investigated associations between maternal fish consumption and child neurodevelopmental outcomes in a population with relatively high exposures to MeHg.
We assessed maternal fish consumption using four-day food diaries and neurodevelopmental tests assessing 26 endpoints covering multiple developmental domains. Comprehensive test batteries were administered at nine and 30 months, and five and nine years of age. Analyses used multiple linear regression with adjustment for covariates known to influence child neurodevelopment.
Average (SD) total fish intake during pregnancy was 106.84 (61.86) g/d. Among the 26 endpoints evaluated in the primary analysis there was one beneficial association. Children whose mothers consumed larger quantities of fish performed marginally better on the KBIT at age 5 years (a test of nonverbal intelligence) (? 0.003, CI 0 ? 0.005). In a secondary analysis, when fish consumption was divided into consumption tertiles, there were no significant associations when comparing the highest and lowest tertiles of consumption.
In our study, where fish consumption is substantially greater than current global recommendations, we found no evidence of adverse associations between maternal fish consumption and children?s neurodevelopment across numerous time points up to nine years of age.
