Fish oil will teach children to read
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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"Reading is the best teaching." One can not but agree with the statement of the great Russian writer A.S. Pushkin. An interesting book can be carried away, transferred to an exciting and beautiful world.
However, many primary school students experience learning difficulties in reading. Most parents believe that it is a matter of laziness and the child's unwillingness to learn something, that's why they try to make him read, determining the baby the norm that he must overpower in a day, hoping thus to interest the child and instill a love for reading. Often this leads to the opposite effect - children completely lose interest in books, and no persuasion can not be helped here.
However, scientists from Oxford University know one "recipe", which is useful for parents in this situation.
When mothers and grandmothers "stuffed" children with fish oil, they knew what they were doing. Fish oil was considered the best source of vitamin D, the deficiency of which leads to rickets. And recently, scientists found out that in this "delicacy" are also polyunsaturated fatty acids Omega-3, which can improve reading skills in children.
The experiment involved 362 children aged 7 to 9 years who had problems with reading skills. One group of children took 600 mg of omega-3 fatty acids in capsules daily for 16 weeks, and the second - a placebo.
Before the experiment began, the weight of the children passed a control check of the reading level. The same specialists did after supplementation.
It turned out that in total the fish oil had no effect on the health of children, but the scientists noted the significant success of the children of the first group taking supplements. After taking the drug, they caught up with their peers, and compared to the placebo group, they improved their results by 20%.
The authors of the survey note that the worse the child's performance, the longer he took supplements.
"Our findings suggest that daily intake of supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids brings positive results, improving the reading skills of the child," says co-author Dr. Alex Richardson. - Especially, according to observations of parents, children who have had problems with their behavior have become significantly less "behaving defiantly."
Now, scientists at Oxford University are studying the effects of similar supplements on children who are lagging behind.
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