This app provides advice for pregnant or nursing women, women that may become pregnant, and young children in regards to healthful seafood consumption. Women can choose to eat commercial fish which will minimize their intake of mercury and PCBs while optimizing their intake of healthy fats. Healthy choices will benefit your baby by providing healthy fats for optimal brain and eye development while avoiding pollutants that can harm your babys brain.
Features:
- Fish listed by category and alphabetically
- Advice provided in English, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified)
- MyLog – allows you to keep a log of your seafood consumption and then view a report with your past seafood consumption and your omega-3 fatty acid, mercury and PCB intake.
- Daily notifications (able to be turned on or off) to remind you to add fish that you have eaten.
- Recipes for the best fish choices
- Link to our popular website, Fish4Health.net, which provides consumption advice for recreationally-caught fish from health departments across the U.S.
** Winner of Babble Top 25 iPhone Apps for Pregnancy in 2011
** This advice is being distributed in a wallet card by health departments in Florida and Indiana
Fish4Health was developed at Purdue University using the best and most trusted scientific evidence. Concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and mercury in commercial fish were obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service’s Nutrient Database, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a study conducted at Purdue University. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish were obtained from the Interstate Workgroup on Evaluating an Atlantic Coastal Advisory for Recreationally Caught Striped Bass and Bluefish. Recommendations for weekly seafood consumption were obtained from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Recommendations for pregnant or nursing women relating to omega-3 fatty acid intake were obtained from the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Safety limits for mercury and PCBs were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency. The recommendation for proper cooking of fish to help avoid exposure to pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes which can terminate a pregnancy was obtained from FDA. Photos of popular fish were obtained from the FDA.
Funding for this app was obtained from: the USDA, National Institute for Food and Agriculture; the National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements; the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program; and Purdue University.