Omega-3s, learning and behaviour in primary school children

Randomised controlled trial investigating effects of omega-3 fatty acids on literacy, attention, behaviour and quality of life in primary school children

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 3

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12612000962831

Enrollment

Registered

2012-09-06

Start date

2012-03-10

Completion date

2012-06-29

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Omega-3s in fish oil are important for brain function and Australian children are not consuming enough in their diet. The purpose of this study is to give primary school children fish oil capsules or placebo capsules to determine whether the fish oil capsules assist them with their learning and behaviour, specifically literacy, attention, cognitive development, and parent/teacher reports of learning and behaviour as well as quality of life.

Interventions

Fish oil supplement Equazen ‘eye qTM’, each capsule containing 400 mg fish oil and 100 mg evening primrose oil with active ingredients EPA (93 mg), DHA (29 mg), GLA (10 mg), and vitamin E (1.8 mg). Children are given 6 capsules per school day over 20 weeks, i.e. 2 x 10-week school terms (separated by 2 weeks school holiday) by teaching assistants and these school staff will record compliance daily.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Prevention

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

7 Years to 14 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

All children attending participating primary schools

Exclusion criteria

Taking fish oil supplements

Outcome results