Can children become smarter due to fish oil? New research points towards that fish oil can help some children with ADHD and dyslexia. The question is, is the same true with infants?
From the last trimester of foetal life to the end of the second year of life the human brain grows that one can refer to it as a brain growth spurt. In this period a lack of a number of nutrients, like fish oil, can adversely impact the function of the brain. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published a comprehensive summery over what we know about fish and the brains of small children.
We know that the polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is strongly concentrated in the walls of nerve cells. DHA is one of the two important n-3 fatty acids in fish oil. Moreover, it is known that young animals, and probably also infants, regardless if they are near or farsighted, see less sharply if they lack n-3 fatty acids. The meaning of this will be discussed.
The importance of DHA has been examined by comparing children who were breastfed and thereby received DHA via breast milk, with those who were fed formula. Comparisons have also been made between children fed formula alone and those who were fed formula and also received an n-3 enriched supplement. The children were tested for development of intellectual and motor skills, concentration, etc.
Greater concentration
By doing this type of research it has been shown that breast fed children do a little better than children fed formula alone. But can one attribute this to the difference in DHA intake? Nursing mothers possibly function a little better than mothers who do not nurse, and may come from a higher social class. Who one corrects for this the differences disappear. Moreover, there are many other differences between formula and breast milk than the amount of DHA present.
It becomes somewhat clearer when one compares formula feed children, who received an n-3 supplement with those who did not. The results in this case are mixed, but there is one point where the difference is conclusive: Infants who received an n-3 supplement had a greater ability for visual concentration, in other words they could better keep up with the things they saw. This important result was also reproduced in a study done with monkeys.
The greatest difference has been found in animal studies with rodents. This is because it is possible, in such studies, to create a large difference in the amount of DHA in the brains of the test subjects. Animals which lacked n-3 fatty acid were less agile, had a harder time finding their way in a labyrinth, etc. even though there is only a small physical change in the brains of the DHA lacking animals. Roughly, that is what we now know.
What should one thus conclude? The authors of the study do not maintain that children should have n-3 supplements during their brain growth spurt. Nevertheless, they state that, after looking at 258 scientific articles, that the need cannot dismissed.
Small changes in the amount of DHA in the brain, which can probably been seen between formula feed children who did and did not receive n-3 supplements, could possibly have important effects which are currently difficult to unveil. Or said more simply: Remember to give infants and toddlers fatty fish or fish oil! It looks like they may be more intelligent as a result.
Reference:
Mc Cann J C, Ames, Bruce N. Is docosahexaenoic acid, an n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, required for development of normal brain function? An overview of evidence from cognitive and behavioural tests in humans and animals. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;82:281-95.
