The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) published the final version of the FDA co-sponsored report, The Role of Seafood in Child Growth and Development. The FDA commissioned the study to help provide the agency with the most up-to-date information on seafood and child development.
Among the report’s conclusions, it was determined that there is not enough evidence to suggest a need to revise the amounts of seafood recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), and that there is not enough evidence to assess the impact of exposure to contaminants from seafood – other than mercury. However, the report reconfirmed that seafood consumption among maternal and child populations remains low and recommended further development of strategies to support increasing consumption of seafood by children and those who might become or are pregnant or breastfeeding. The report also acknowledged that intake by certain groups —such as Asian and Native Americans and subsistence fishers and their families – is substantively higher.
The report recommends that the FDA routinely monitor the evidence as well as methodologies for integrating and assessing both risks and benefits from seafood on child developmental outcomes, and conduct such analyses to support agency regulations, policies, and programs. The findings highlight many areas for recommended research to fill knowledge gaps around the impact of exposures through seafood consumption on health.
The agency is considering the findings in the NASEM report, along with other data and information, to inform the joint FDA and EPA Advice About Eating Fish and the Closer to Zero Initiative. Closer to Zero is our strategic, long-term, iterative approach to reducing childhood dietary exposure to mercury and other environmental contaminants from foods, while maintaining access to nutritious foods. The FDA is also continuing robust collaborations with federal partners, including sampling and analysis of foods and expanding consumer education work through consumer studies and educational strategies and tools.
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