More Seafood While Pregnant Tied To 25% Lower Odds of Babies Having Colic, Eczema

Fish on the Menu During Pregnancy Tied to Fewer Babies With Colic and Eczema

Some babies cry for long stretches and cannot be calmed, a condition called colic. Others have eczema, a skin condition that causes itchy flare-ups. Some babies have both, and a new study of more than 1,300 mothers and babies found that women who ate more fish and shellfish during pregnancy had babies with 25% lower odds of having both for every extra weekly serving of seafood.

Only about 5% of the babies had both conditions, roughly 1 in 20. Those babies tended to have mothers who ate less seafood and followed less healthful diets, though the study cannot prove diet was the reason.

Women whose diets leaned Mediterranean, heavy on vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains, and healthy fats, had babies with lower odds of the double diagnosis. Women whose diets scored as more inflammatory, meaning foods more likely to promote inflammation in the body, had babies with higher odds. Nuts and peanuts told a different story, linked to a slightly higher chance of colic alone, but not when eczema was also present.

Colic, the term for long bouts of crying that nothing seems to fix, has baffled doctors because its cause is poorly understood. Eczema, meanwhile, often travels with allergy-related conditions. Published in JAMA Network Open, this is the first study the authors know of to treat the pair as one outcome. They suspect babies who have both may share a specific immune-related pattern, rather than being hit by two unrelated bouts of bad luck.

Project Viva Data Link Pregnancy Diet Quality to Colic and Eczema Odds

Researchers drew on Project Viva, a long-running study that enrolled pregnant women from prenatal clinics in Eastern Massachusetts between 1999 and 2002. At about 10 weeks and again at about 28 weeks of pregnancy, women filled out detailed food questionnaires. From those answers, the team scored each diet two ways. One score measured how closely it resembled a Mediterranean-style diet, awarding points for plenty of vegetables, fruit, fish, and whole grains and little red or processed meat. The other measured how inflammatory the diet was overall. Because the questionnaires came during pregnancy, mothers were less likely to misremember what they ate.

When babies were about 6 months old, mothers were asked whether their infant ever had episodes of agony, screaming, and leg-drawing that could not be calmed, and whether that happened “sometimes” or “often.” Either answer counted as colic. For eczema, mothers reported whether a doctor, physician’s assistant, or nurse practitioner had ever diagnosed it.

Of 2,128 liveborn babies, 1,324 mother-infant pairs had complete diet and outcome information and made it into the analysis. Mothers averaged about 33 years old, and roughly half were having their first child. About 40% had a personal history of asthma, seasonal allergies, or eczema, though women were not selected for allergy risk. About 75% were non-Hispanic White, 10% non-Hispanic Black, 7% Hispanic, and 6% non-Hispanic Asian. Among the babies, 152 had eczema alone, 273 had colic alone, and 61 had both.

Odds describe how likely an outcome is, so lower odds mean the double diagnosis showed up less often. After accounting for factors such as maternal age, race, education, smoking, and the mother’s own allergy history, each point higher on the Mediterranean scale, which runs from 0 to 9, was tied to about 15% lower odds of the combined outcome. Each point higher on the inflammatory scale was tied to about 30% higher odds. Neither score was tied to colic or eczema occurring alone, though associations between diet quality and colic were somewhat stronger among babies whose mothers had allergic conditions.

Seafood, counted as fish and shellfish combined, told a similar story. Women averaged about 1.6 servings a week. Among mothers with the lowest seafood intake, 5.9% of babies had both conditions, compared with 2.7% among those with the highest, less than half as many. Dairy and eggs showed no connection to any outcome.

Pregnancy Diet Linked to Colic and Eczema, but Cause Remains Unproven

This was an observational study, meaning researchers tracked what happened rather than controlling what women ate, so the results cannot prove that diet causes colic or eczema. Colic was based on mothers’ descriptions of their babies’ symptoms, while eczema was based on whether mothers reported a diagnosis from a healthcare professional. Neither was checked against medical records, and eczema that appears after the first several months would not have been captured, so some cases may have been missed. All families had access to prenatal healthcare, so the results may not reflect every community.

One plausible explanation involves omega-3 fats, which have anti-inflammatory effects. Seafood is the main dietary source, the authors note, and randomized trials have linked prenatal omega-3 intake to fewer allergic conditions in children. U.S. dietary guidelines already encourage regular seafood during pregnancy, yet the authors describe adherence as “very poor.”

No diet can promise a quiet nursery, but this study adds a possible new reason to follow guidelines that already encourage seafood in pregnancy. Until other studies repeat the result, it is a reason to eat well, not a guarantee.

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Disclaimer: This article reports on one published study and is for general information only. It is not medical advice. Questions about diet during pregnancy or a baby’s health belong with a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional.

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