Fish oil diet linked to calmer behaviour

The study, published yesterday (7 December), involved 65 children who had challenging behaviour and problems with attention and concentration.

After five months of taking daily doses of 'eye q', a combined omega-3 and omega-6 supplement, only 4 per cent of children were found to have poor or very poor behaviour, compared with 47 per cent before the trial started.

The percentage of children with poor or very poor concentration levels fell from 66 per cent to 21 per cent.

Those taking eye q were also compared with a control group to assess their language development. The eye q group made a 7.1- month improvement in receptive language ability and an 8.8-month improvement in expressive language ability, which was 2 and 4.7 months better respectively than the control group.

Dr Madeleine Portwood, senior educational psychologist and lead researcher on the trial, said, 'Some two-year-olds went from having a vocabulary of 25 single words to being able to use whole sentences.

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

Brian Brown, manager of Sure Start Children's Centre Peterlee, said, 'Our parents reported huge changes - their children were calmer, sleeping better, and reading books or doing puzzles.

'If this cohort were indicative of the whole population, we believe that about 75 per cent of children would benefit from taking supplements.

'We will continue to offer eye q to children as they begin Sure Start.

Eventually, I hope it will be funded nationally and made available to all children.'