Many school-age children have already been identified as having ADD or ADHD and their issues are sometimes associated with nutritional imbalances. (Too much sugars and some additives in junk food have particularly been blamed.)
Essential fatty acids for example DHA are crucial for proper brain function but well, how many children do you know who eat fresh cold-water fish three times a week? When children don’t get enough DHA and they are generally loading up on saturated fat, trans fatty and omega-6 fatty acids from fast foods, the inevitable result is a fatty-acid imbalance.
DHA supplementation has been confirmed decrease aggression while a child is under stress. The DHA in fish oil can help to improve the chemical balance in the brain while giving the typical benefits of omega 3 fatty acid supplementation.
A small research included 9 children, ages 8 to 16, who had ADHD, which is described as inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Participants took high daily doses of fish oil, providing 8g to 16g combined of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for eight weeks. Researchers found the children’s behavior improved significantly, as rated by a psychiatrist and parents,
I recommend that bottle-fed newborns receive omega-3 supplementation, particularly DHA, for proper brain and retina development. Breast-fed infants receive these critical essential fatty acids in the breast milk. I suspect that before long DHA supplementation will be required in all commercial baby formulas.
The rate of asthma keeps raising. Unfortunately, children’s asthma is continuing to rise at an alarming rate. Environmental pollution and poor dietary habits are largely to blame. Essential fatty-acids in fish and fish oil to suppress the inflammatory chemicals involved in this disease. Research shows that children who eat oily fish more than once a week have one-third the risk of letting asthma as children who don’t eat fish or eat lean fish on a regular basis.
Fish-oil supplements are beneficial for both children and adults with asthma. Again, the benefits of fish oil take months before the natural anti-inflammatory benefits begin to take hold.