Are you hoping to birth a Wimbeldon Champion ?

Well, before you buy the tennis outfit and start those tennis lessons, you need to ensure junior’s poweful forearm swing will actually connect with that tiny tennisball i.e. your kid needs good hand-eye coordination.

Recipe for hand-eye coordination

A good set of genes is imperative. Think the Williams sisters.  

Regular ball work, will refine the inherent skill i.e. practise, practise, practice.

But, the secret to getting the racket and ball to connect, is all in the first serve.  Babies getting high doses of omega-3 in utero, pop out with a huge advantage.

The omega-3 advantage

Research  published in Archives of Disease in Childhood found high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in cord blood, conferred an advantage to toddlers.

The finding comes from a study which provided  98 non smoking, non fish eating, pregnant women with a daily  “oil” supplement from week 20 of the pregnancy, until junior popped out.

Half the women in the study, swallowed 4 g of fish oil a day, the other half,  ingested the same amount of olive oil.

Keeping score

When the children were two and a half years old, the research team  gathered the toddlers and put them through their paces.

In all, 72 children were assessed (33 in the fish oil group and 39 in the olive oil group).

The researchers checked overall growth and development. Specialized tests assessed language, behaviour, practical reasoning and hand-eye coordination in all the youngsters.

Forty love in favour of fish oil tots

There was no significant differences in growth between the two groups of toddlers.

But …..

The fish oil babies talked a lot more consistently, scoring  higher on measures of average phrase length and vocabulary.   They also scored higher on measures of comprehension.

In addition to being able to  talk a hind leg off a donkey, they exhibited superior skills at smashing balls and things –   due to improved hand eye coordination.  

A winning volley

Take home message, supplementing with fish oil in the second half of  pregnancy, gives baby an advantage – in the long-term at least.   Granted  in the short-term a highly co-ordinated chatter box two year old, might exaggerate the agony of the terrible twos a smidgen.  Leaving you wondering about the advantage.

Game, set and match !

The omega-3 advantage might not be enough to lift the Wimbeldon Title,  but will at least ensure your toddler  is a star performer at play school and  help set them up to win the game of life. 

Antenatal fish oil supplements boost kids’ hand-eye coordination –  press release appearing on EurekAlert ! 

 

Interested in learning more about the chemistry behind healthy babies ? 

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Further reading

Psychosocial stress in pregnancy is knocking  a few years off junior’s life expectancy	To give your baby-2-be a strong heart enrol them in an exercise class	Winter nookie increases the risk of having an autistic child

The 7 Big Spoons™…. are master switches that turn health on.

Balance Eicosanoids	Rein in insulin	Dial down stress	Sleep !	Increase Vit D	Culivate microflora	Think champion

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