Fish oil during pregnancy found to lower asthma risk in kids

A Danish study finds that women who took fish oil during pregnancy significantly lowered their children's risk of asthma. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The large, carefully designed study involved over 700 pregnant women in their third trimester. Half took 2.4 grams of fish oil a day, and half took placebo capsules of olive oil. Researchers then checked the health of the children for at least 5 years.

Nearly 17% of kids in the fish oil group developed persistent wheezing or asthma. That's compared with nearly 24% in the control group. That translates to about a 30% reduction in asthma or wheezing cases.

This one study doesn't prove fish oil during pregnancy will be helpful. Other studies have shown conflicting results, and too much fish oil may be a bad thing.

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