Earlier this week I mentioned a new national study on Kids and Seafood.  It really was an interesting study.  It quantified something for me that I already knew – not only are adults not eating the recommend amount of seafood (twice a week) but we aren’t coming close to feeding our kids the recommended amount either.  It is really too bad.  Seafood is loaded with so many good things – protein, Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D and more – it always surprises me when I see reports on how little seafood we are eating and feeding our kids. 

 When parents were asked why they don’t serve seafood to their kids many cited concerns over costs, bones, availability and safety.  I really have to wonder if most of these are concerns are left legacies from our parents’ generation when these things really were much more relevant.  

 The cost of seafood has come down so much since when we were kids.  Today seafood is as affordable as many lean cuts of beef or boneless chicken breasts.  With the advent of quality frozen seafood you can get seafood pretty much anywhere in the country even if you live nowhere near the ocean.  So no one should be inhibited from eating delicious seafood due to costs or availability.

 With new preparation techniques bones in seafood are really a non issue too.  However, if the fear of bones is what is stopping you from regularly feeding your kids seafood, then I would recommend that you try a seafood option like shrimp, which has no bones at all.  Most parent report that shrimp is the #1 preferred type of seafood by their kids anyway, so getting your child interest in a plate of yummy shrimp shouldn’t be too difficult accomplish.

 That leaves the safety issue as the only remaining barrier to consuming more seafood.  Now this particular Kids and Seafood study didn’t ask people specifically what their safety concerns were, but I am speculating that mercury fears probably make up a big portion of that safety concern.  Back in the 70’s and 80’s the media made a big issue out of potential mercury problems and that idea has really stuck with people despite study after study showing that most seafood is very healthy and safe.  According to the FDA, the mercury in shrimp is ND or ”non detectable”.  And according to researchers at Harvard University (as published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, October 2006) the health benefits of fish “greatly outweigh the risks, including those from trace amounts of mercury.”  According to the FDA and EPA the only group who should be concerned enough to limit their consumption of seafood are pregnant or nursing women and very young children and even this group is encouraged to eat seafood but limit certain species of fish which tend to have the highest levels of mercury specifically Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish.

So there you have it – the four main barriers to eating seafood as sited in this recent national study.  Do you agree with the findings?  What do you think keeps people from feeding their family more seafood?