Many medical researches have proved the positive effects fish oil omega 3 fatty acids have on adults and children. People suffering from a long series of medical conditions (ranging from cancer, mental issues, and inflammatory diseases) are being prescribed omega 3 supplements. The richest natural sources of these essential acids are fish and a series of vegetables and fruits, but fatty fish are preferred because they contain the two types of essential fats the body can use (DHA and EPA), while fruits contain the ALA fatty acids, which has to be transformed into DHA and EPA.

A recent medical study has shown that fish oil supplements, if taken by pregnant women, increases the hand to eye coordination of their babies as toddlers.

The test was conducted on almost 100 pregnant women, who had been given 4g of fish oil supplements or 4g of olive oil supplements daily, from the 20th week of pregnancy until the babies were born. The babies and their mothers were monitored until they reached two and a half years of age. At this point, they were tested using a series of internationally validated tests whose purpose was to measure growth and development. Elements such as language, behavior and hand to eye coordination were measured. 72 children began the test, of which 33 belonged to the fish oil group, and 39 in the olive oil group.

When it came to language skills and growth, scientists have not witnessed any significant differences between babies belonging to the two groups. But there was a different story when it came to measuring the child's eye to hand coordination. Children whose mothers had been given fish oil supplements scored significantly higher scores in hand-eye coordination than those whose mothers had taken the olive oil supplements.

Even after taking into consideration other potential influential factors, such as the mother's age and duration of breast feeding, the babies from the first group scored higher than whose mothers had been given olive oil supplements.

Scientists conducting the experiment found out those high levels of omega 3 fatty acids in blood at birth (when given fish oil supplements) were associated with good hand-eye coordination. However, medics recommend looking for fish oil supplements obtained through a process called molecular distillation, to be sure that all the possible toxins found in fish (such as mercury or lead) are eliminated and the fish oil is extremely pure.

While not having any effect on child growth, taking fish oil omega supplements when pregnant has positive effects on the cognitive functions of the baby after he or she is born.