Pregnant women urged to eat more fish
Pregnant or breastfeeding women should increase their weekly consumption of fish, as long as it's lower in mercury, according to new advice from the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The two agencies now recommend that women eat at least 8 ounces and up to 12 ounces per week of low-mercury fish, to support foetal growth and development. That equates to two or three servings. Young children and women who might become pregnant should also try to eat a similar amount of fish every week, the agencies said in a newly released draft of updated nutritional advice.Important nutrients The nutritional benefits of fish outweigh concerns about mercury, the agencies have concluded. "For years many women have limited or avoided eating fish during pregnancy or feeding fish to their young children," said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, the FDA's acting chief scientist. "But emerging science now tells