fish oil trial in the paper today

[loppy]

there is an article in the Daily Mail today which talks about some research where they gave eye q to toddlers. their behaviour improved from very poor to very good in 5 months. their vocabulary and language also improved and concentration.

it also talks about loads of other trials with eye q as well.

have a look at it if you can. I haven't heard of any other fish oils that have done trials, has anyone else?

The same sentence - the one with 'enhances' in it, could be written 'lower prenatal DHA exposure retards/damages early development"

oh ok do what you want/feel is best

my kids don't need fish oils
they are perfect as they are

I share Enid's scepticism. I've been vegetarian for over 20 years, and my three sons have been vegetarian from birth, so no oily fish or fish oil supplements here, and we're all doing fine. Aren't there people living in parts of the world that were too far inland to have oily fish before modern refrigeration techniques, come to that? Don't most children just grow out of concentration problems after a while anyway - do their parents then attribute the change to the fish oils they've been shelling out for? Also, the parents' expectations of their children may improve after they've been giving them the magic capsules. DS3 had concentration problems at school last year when he had a teacher with low expectations of him. This year's teacher has higher expectations of him, and bingo, his concentration isn't a problem any more. I'm therefore very concerned at the almost automatic assumption that any concentration problem is down to a deficiency or a special need.

I give fish oils to ds because I want him to have better concentration in class and help with his reading/writing. He'd be fine without it but if something (which he won't eat) can help with that then I'm happy to give it to him.
Dd doesn't have any because she's not at school yet. If I saw her struggling when she gets to school I will consider giving it to her as well.

humans do need efas though. and humans did evolve near water - inland yes - but always near water, so fish was a huge part of the diet. Our fish intake has collapsed so most of us are now deficient to some degree.

However, was ds's nursery Xmas party and play today and I suspect his diet was 90% sugar!

dd1 actually does (unlike the majority of mumsnetters children it seems sometimes) struggle at school (academically not socially). It would never occur to me to supplement her diet as if that would be a magic cure all. She needs good food yes, but not pills. She also needs extra support, help from me and dh and a calm, routined environment to help her with her concentration.

Sorry but I think you are all deluding yourselves.

I was a sceptic until I tried Eskimo Kids with dd. She has CP, and the improvement in her motor control and her vocalisation has been marked. I'm very aware that as a parent of a child with SN I'm potentially vulnerable to all sorts of 'snake oil' remedies, but I really do think that this one works.

But it's not only 'pills' Enid, it's nutrients - absolutely vital nutrients that we all need and that make up our brains. If you were iron deficient, wouldn't you think about taking iron tablets or increasing the amount of iron you get via your diet? The oils containing DHA and EFA are not synthetic, they are just concentrated in the fish oils. they are precisely the same nutrients as you get via salmon or mackerel, except most of us have kids who won't eat salmon or mackerel several times a week, every single week. Or we dont' fancy eating it ourselves.
This has been studied in depth and the links between dha and efa and brain health are undeniable IMO (and yes, I have read the studies). And for children with conditions such as dyspraxia the evidence is very, very strong that bringing EFA and DHA up to healthy levels does improve things for many (not all) children.

This is from a good summary of some of the evidence:

EPA and DHA play many roles in the human body. For example, over 20% of the dry weight of the brain is made up of EFA’s, primarily DHA and arachidonic acid. Those fatty acids form structural components of cell membranes and are concentrated in neuronal membranous phospholipids, including the myelin sheath. Postnatal DHA status has been found to correlate with visual acuity (retinal function)3 and neurodevelolpment4. Moreover, EFA’s are important in the regulation of many biochemical events including neurotransmitter release and uptake, receptor function in the central nervous system5, and various enzymatic processes6. Specifically, during normal synaptic function, DHA and arachidonic acid are released into the synaptic junction, followed by reuptake of the EFA’s and the neurotransmitters. EFA’s also form an integral part of the membrane of every cell, and their concentration affects membrane fluidity and ion transport across cell membranes, and hence affect all cell-to-cell communication. Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids are also important in the production of prostaglandins.

There have been many reports of significantly reduced levels of EFA’s in several psychiatric disorders. In schizophrenia, there have been several reports of significantly reduced levels of linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, EPA and DHA in red blood cell membranes compared to healthy controls7 8 9. A recent study of never-medicated first episode people with schizophrenia also found reduced arachidonic acid and DHA levels (p

And this is the link

Enid, I was major sceptical until recently. I'm now in the 3rd week of giving DS1 omega supplements. His diet is already varied, he usually gets all of the food groups every day certainly every other day, and he struggles to concentrate on anything, won't attempt to dress himself, won't even pick up a book, doesn't seem to understand what I'm trying to get across to him and can be more than a tad boisterous. Even now DH and I, Grandma and even playschool can tell the difference after just 2.5 weeks. He'll play with his leappad, sit on my knee to read a book, will try to dress himself, will let me brush his teeth without having to restrain him and his speech is coming along fantastically (a delayed and reluctant speaker).

To say we are deluding ourselves is madness. All of the evidence from science/medical tests and from the experience of parents who've tried it surely show we are not.

With all due respect I feel that you are deluding yourself. If you child, like mine, needs that little bit of extra help you've got to be crazy not to give them it

sorry - can't get link to work. Try here if interested www.eas.asu.edu/~autism/Research/FattyAcids.doc

It's from a big research faculty in the US.

thanks homemama, just seen your post! Hope who you saw was helpful. Will defo get some eskimo oil. I think the research aloha has posted is pretty compelling.

Aloha, you're a mine of information! Must actually give the boys the fish oil instead of having it decorate the fridge!

Tesco have just started doing their own - don't know what they're like but they're only £2.99 for 30.

Even if they're not the best they're better than nothing.

My dd's have been on the Haliborange ones for about a month, and I've really noticed a difference.

I went to buy some of this today but when I compared the amount of DHA in the different brands there was a 10-fold difference! Does anyone know the best dose or perhaps which brand seems to be the best? Does it matter how old the child is?

It matters that they have more DHA when they are tiny (babies) and more EPA when older. I think Mini IQ, Eskimo oils and smartfish and EyeQ are all good, or just stuff them to the gills with salmon!
I really should eat more fish (and fruit and more vegetables).

the cheapo boots one came out as best balanced one, I think in the standard review

I give DS the cheapo boots one. I think it is orange flavour. It's a liquid and I used the syringe from the nurofen to get it down quickly.

I give DS the cheapo boots one. I think it is orange flavour. It's a liquid and I used the syringe from the nurofen to get it down quickly.

Did anyone see the Guardian front page today with the article about banning aspartame from foods and drinks?

It is used to sweeten no fewer than 6,000 products, from crisps, confectionery, chewing gums, diet and sports drinks to vitamin pills and medicines, including those for children. Yet the science that supported its approval was "biased, inconclusive and incompetent".

Well... the cheapo Boots one has aspartame it it, as does haliobrange.

I avoid aspartame.

ds still doing well with the eye q smooth and reading all the other posts think I'm happy with picking this one as it has the research. As far as I can see its the only one with trial actually on the supplement rather than just any fish oil.

Does eskimo have any trials?

my son's dietician put alot of pressure on me to accept both a calcium supplement with aspartame in it [and saccharin] and a flavouring for neocate with aspartame in it, when my ds was 6 months old. Luckily, i held out.