For details of the research study, see
And for a further news summary:
See also the findings from a subsequent randomised controlled treatment trial, involving 362 of the larger set of children who took part in the present cross-sectional study.
Blood levels of DHA and other omega-3s are directly related to measures of cognition and behavior in school children with below average reading ability, says a new study from the UK
Data from 493 British schoolchildren also showed that the levels were also low relative to adult cardiovascular health recommendations, report researchers from the Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention at the University of Oxford.
"The finding that low Omega-3 LC-PUFA, and DHA in particular, predict behavior and learning problems in this large sample of healthy, but underperforming children attending mainstream schools suggests that the benefits from dietary supplementation found in ADHD and related conditions may extend to a wider population," they wrote in the journal PLoS One.
"This question can only be addressed by well-powered intervention studies, but meanwhile, the low blood Omega-3 status found across this sample would indicate that an increased dietary intake might be beneficial on general health grounds".