We all want to make the effort to eat healthy, and we also want our loved ones--especially our children--to try and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Since tuna is readily available at any supermarket, it has become one of the staple "healthy alternatives" to beef or pork. But a new study has shown that consuming excessive amounts of tuna may be harmful to children.

MedicalNewsToday.com reports that researchers analyzed data from 59 samples of tuna from 11 different US states; the Mercury Policy Project recently released a report based on their findings, which stated that feeding children too much tuna may result in mercury poisoning in their later years. In fact, children below 55 lbs. should only consume canned tuna about once a month, and kids weighing more than 55 lbs. are entitled to double that amount in the same timeframe.

The report also said that the albacore tuna should not be given to children at all.

The increasing amount of mercury in our oceans may be a rising concern, but it has largely been overlooked by experts and the media because, while mercury is toxic, it exists in very low amounts around us. Unfortunately, shellfish and fish that are the main sources of mercury are regularly ingested by humans.

So the next time you're thinking of reaching for that can of tuna for a quick and healthy meal for your kids, ask yourself how much tuna you've been giving them lately. You may want to consider getting them something else this time around.


(Photo by jules via Flickr Creative Commons)