David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Fish oil may curb unruly behaviour
March 27, 2006
Press Association
Fish oil supplements (which contain Omega-3 essential fatty acids, EFA) can dramatically improve the behaviour of unruly teenagers, according to researchers.
Tests on children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) revealed they significantly improved their behaviour after taking the supplements.
The study, which follows on from work last year, focused on a group of 12-15-year-olds with ADHD at a school in County Durham.
A pre-trial assessment of the students at Greenfield Community Arts College in Newton Aycliffe showed that 94% had moderate or severe ADHD. The students also had an inattention scale rating of 94% and a severe impulsivity rating of 89%.
After taking blended fish oil supplements for just three months there were significant improvements. Severe ADHD reduced to 28% as did severe impulsivity, and severe inattention fell to just 17% among the students.
Dr Madeleine Portwood, Durham local authority's senior educational psychologist and lead researcher on the trials, welcomed the results, saying: "These trials were undertaken with a group of potentially vulnerable students with persistent behavioural difficulties and who were at risk of exclusion."
"By taking the fatty acid supplement, those aspects of their behaviour which put them at risk of exclusion improved dramatically.
"With permanent school exclusions nationally having risen by 19% since 1999/2000, 68% of them among the 12-14 year old age group, our most recent trials suggest a clear route to improvement."
The first ever natural oil supplement trials on 65 pre-school children, aged from 18 months to three years, was undertaken at a SureStart centre in Peterlee last year.
The results showed that while 47% of the children started with poor behaviour, by the end only 4% had behaviour rated as "poor" during the five-month trial.
March 27, 2006
Press Association
Fish oil supplements (which contain Omega-3 essential fatty acids, EFA) can dramatically improve the behaviour of unruly teenagers, according to researchers.
Tests on children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) revealed they significantly improved their behaviour after taking the supplements.
The study, which follows on from work last year, focused on a group of 12-15-year-olds with ADHD at a school in County Durham.
A pre-trial assessment of the students at Greenfield Community Arts College in Newton Aycliffe showed that 94% had moderate or severe ADHD. The students also had an inattention scale rating of 94% and a severe impulsivity rating of 89%.
After taking blended fish oil supplements for just three months there were significant improvements. Severe ADHD reduced to 28% as did severe impulsivity, and severe inattention fell to just 17% among the students.
Dr Madeleine Portwood, Durham local authority's senior educational psychologist and lead researcher on the trials, welcomed the results, saying: "These trials were undertaken with a group of potentially vulnerable students with persistent behavioural difficulties and who were at risk of exclusion."
"By taking the fatty acid supplement, those aspects of their behaviour which put them at risk of exclusion improved dramatically.
"With permanent school exclusions nationally having risen by 19% since 1999/2000, 68% of them among the 12-14 year old age group, our most recent trials suggest a clear route to improvement."
The first ever natural oil supplement trials on 65 pre-school children, aged from 18 months to three years, was undertaken at a SureStart centre in Peterlee last year.
The results showed that while 47% of the children started with poor behaviour, by the end only 4% had behaviour rated as "poor" during the five-month trial.
