According to the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, a child’s risk of developing allergies is about 25% if one parent has allergies and increases to roughly 66% if both parents are affected.
A placebo-controlled study published in Acta Paediatrica (June 2009; epub ahead of print) examined whether omega-3 fatty acid supplementation during pregnancy and breastfeeding could influence allergy risk in infants. The study included 145 pregnant women who either had allergies themselves or had a partner or previous child with allergies.
The women were randomly assigned to receive either fish oil providing 1.6 g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 1.1 g of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day, or a placebo. Supplementation began during the final trimester of pregnancy and continued until the infant was three to four months old. All mothers breastfed their infants.
The prevalence of allergies or eczema was significantly lower in the children whose mothers received fish oil compared to those in the placebo group.
