Fish oil 'can boost children's brains'

"Fish oil 'can boost children's brains'", Daily Mail, December 9, 2005,
Link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...page_id=1 798

A daily dose of fish oil can dramatically improve the behaviour of
unruly children and help develop their concentration and bonding with
their parents, research has revealed.

The dramatic results showed that while 47 per cent of the children in
the study started with poor behaviour, by the end only 4 per cent had
behaviour rated as "poor".

The study by Durham council experts in three Sure Start childcare
centres tracked 65 children who were taking the supplements, known as
"eye q smooth", for five months.

Dr Madeleine Portwood, Durham local authority's senior educational
psychologist led the research. She said the impact on language skills
was also significant.

Vocabulary leaps

"Some two-year-olds went from having a vocabulary of 25 single words to
being able to use whole sentences," she said.

"Others were able to sit down and concentrate for the first time in
their lives.

"But perhaps the most significant advantage of this project is that the
improvements in behaviour and concentration in the children have
facilitated a much stronger bond between the parent and the child."

After five months, the group who were taking the supplement had made
the equivalent of nearly nine months' improvement in expressive
language ability - communication through spoken words.

The control group improved over the five month period by about the
expected five months, the researchers said.

Eye q smooth is a combination of omega-3 fish oil and omega-6 evening
primrose oil, made by supplement suppliers Equazen.