I know it sounds far-fetched, but in an article entitled Brain Food, a study was conducted where three-year-old children with ADHD, dyspraxia and dyslexia were given fish oil:

In a study sponsored by the UK government, Professor John Warner and colleagues studied 277 three-year-olds on the Isle of Wight, and categorised them into four groups - those with an allergy, those with signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children with both and those with neither.

Richardson herself is the senior researcher in a study looking at the latest hot-button subject in diet and behaviour, fish oils - which many parents will tell you can transform the behaviour of a “problem” child.

So parents say that fish oil is good for transforming a problem child’s behavior, but what did this study find?

The study looked at children classified as suffering from dyspraxia, but many were also dyslexic and ADHD. Because the results are yet to be published, Richardson wouldn’t divulge the full outcome. But she would say that giving children a daily fish oil supplement containing half a gram of Omega-3 fatty acids resulted in significant improvements. “We’ve shown you can improve behaviour and learning with these oils.”

Looks like we won’t know the full results until the study is published, but this is great news. I know that Dr. Sears just completed a study at Harvard testing high-dose fish oil on kids with ADHD. However, I believe he was using 15 grams of omega-3s instead of half a gram — Imagine the difference that would make!

The article discusses another interesting study:

It’s not the first study to show dramatic improvements in behaviour with nutritional supplements. As long ago as 2002, researchers studying teens in a young offenders institution found that dietary changes could reduce violence. They looked at the effects of supplemental fatty acids, minerals and vitamins on the behaviour of 231 prisoners. They found striking results: incidents of antisocial behaviour fell by 35 per cent among inmates who took the supplements for two weeks or more compared with those who didn’t.

Hmmm… I wonder what those supplemental fatty acids were? I’ll look for the study, and when I find it, I’ll post it here.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 28th, 2005 at 10:32 pm and is filed under Alzheimer's and Brain Health, Children, Toddlers and Teenagers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.