Fish oil in pregnancy reduces a child’s risk of diabetesÂ

Fish oil in pregnancy reduces a child’s risk of diabetes 

• Giving overweight pregnant rats fish oil improved their offspring's sensitivity
• Previous research has shown insulin sensitivity protects against diabetes
• Researchers advise pregnant women eat oily fish rather than take supplements
• This is because their findings from the rat study are unconfirmed in humans
• Past research shows out-of-date fish oil has detrimental effects on pregnant rats 

By Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 13:38 BST, 20 July 2017 | Updated: 13:38 BST, 20 July 2017

Taking fish oil in pregnancy may reduce a child's risk of diabetes, new research suggests.

Giving overweight pregnant rats fresh fish oil improves their offspring's response to insulin, a study found.

Previous research has demonstrated insulin sensitivity is protective against diabetes.

Lead author Dr Ben Albert from the University of Auckland, said: 'This is exciting because it raises the question: if overweight women take fresh fish oil in pregnancy, will it lower the risk of their children later developing diabetes?'

Yet, researchers advise women eat more oily fish rather than taking fish oil as some supplements are of dubious quality. 

Taking fish oil in pregnancy may reduce a child's risk of diabetes, new research suggests

LACK OF VITAMIN D IN PREGNANCY LEADS TO CHILDREN WITH POOR MOTOR SKILLS 

Pregnant women lacking in vitamin D are more likely to have children with poor motor skills, research revealed earlier this month.

Mothers lacking in this vital vitamin are at risk of having children that score in the bottom 25 per cent of motor skill tests at 30 months old, a study found.

Such children are also at a greater risk of impaired social development at 42 months, the research adds.

Researchers believe interactions between vitamin D and the hormone dopamine in foetus' brains play a critical role in the development of regions that control motor and social development.

Lead author Dr Andrea Darling from the University of Surrey, said: 'Our research shows that if levels are low in expectant mothers, it can affect the development of their children in their early years of life.'

Vitamin D is found in UV light, as well as in oily fish, mushrooms, egg yolks and fortified products.

Key findings  

Researchers from the University of Auckland fed pregnant rats a high-fat or standard diet.

Half of the rats fed both types of diets were also given fresh fish oil.

Results revealed that among those fed the high-fat diet, fish oil improved the rats' offspr ings' insulin sensitivity.

Previous research has demonstrated insulin sensitivity is protective against diabetes.

Dr Albert said: 'This is exciting because it raises the question: if overweight women take fresh fish oil in pregnancy, will it lower the risk of their children later developing diabetes?'

The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports. 

'Eat oily fish' 

The researchers will conduct a study later this year to determine if fish oil has similar diabetes-protective effects in overweight pregnant women.

At this time, they do not recommend pregnant women take fish oil as previous research suggests such supplements can have detrimental effects if they are out of date.

When the researchers fed 'off' fish oil to pregnant rats, 30 percent of the pups died within two days - eight times the rate of the control group.

Study author Professor Wayne Cutfield said: 'At this stage we do not recommend that pregnant women take fish oil for their babies' health for two reasons.

'First, our findings need confirmation in human studies. Second, you can't know if the supplements you buy are fresh or not and we don't yet know the safe level of oxidisation for fish oil in pregnancy.

'Our advice would be, if you want more omega 3 fats, eat oily fish.' 

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