Cognitive Performance
Conditions
Keywords
Diet, Vitamin-D, Meat, Fatty fish, Iodine, fatty acid, Intervention study, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Nine hole peg test
Brief summary
The main aim of this intervention study is to test the effect of diet on improvement in cognitive performanc in kindergarden children aged 4-6 years. Children will be randomly allocated into two groups, one consuming prepared meals with herring or mackerel for four months, and one group consuming meals containing meat as a control group.
Detailed description
Positive effects of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), as provided by fatty fish intake, on cognitive functions are widely accepted, but so far there is no clear evidence from randomized intervention studies in children and young adults, although fish intake has been positively associated with cognitive functions in observational studies. The main aim of this study is to test the effect of diet on improvement in cognitive performance in kindergarden children aged 4-6 years. In the intervention study, children will be randomly allocated into two groups, one consuming prepared meals with herring or mackerel for four months, and one group consuming meals containing meat as a control group. The children (n=200) will consume the prepared meals three times a week. Cognitive performance of the children will be tested at study start and end using the the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI\_III) and nine hole peg test. Children will be screened for mental health problems in the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which is a global measure of children's mental health. Compliance will be monitored by documentation of study fish intake and measuring fatty acid status. For a more detailed investigation of effects of increased herring and mackerel intake, before and after intervention blood and urine will be collected for lipidomic analysis (metabolites), vitamin D and iodine determination and genotyping (fatty acid metabolism and inflammation).
Interventions
OTHERSeafood
The aim is to investigate the effect of meals consisting of mackrel and herring on learning abilities by using a two-armed individually randomized non-blinded intervention trial.
OTHERNon-seafood
The aim is to investigate the effect of meals consisting of meat on learning abilities by using a two-armed individually randomized non-blinded intervention trial.
Sponsors
NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS
Ludwig-Maximilians - University of Munich
National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, Norway
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
4 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Being 4-6 years old. * Sufficient command of the Norwegian language of child to participate in cognitive testing and of child and parents to comply with study requirements according to investigators estimation.
Exclusion criteria
* Known food allergies
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| WPSSI-III and Nine Hole peg test. | 5 months | The intervention study aims to test the effect of diet on improvement in cognitive performance measured by WPPSSI-III and Nine Hope Peg test in kindergarten children. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mental health | 5 months | Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) |
| Sleep | 5 months | Questionnaire report by parent |
| B-vitamines | 5 months | Serum: Cobalamin, Flavin Mononucleotide, Folate, HCC-index, HK:XA, MMA, N1-methylnicotinamide, PA, PL, PLP, Riboflavin, tHcy, Thiamin, Thiamin monophosphate |
| Cholline pathway | 5 months | Serum: Betaine, Choline, Dimethylglycine, Glycine, Serine, TMAO |
| Tryptophan pathway | 5 months | Serum: 3-Hydroxyanthranilic acids, 3-Hydroxykynurenine, Anthranilic acid, Kynurenic acid, Kynurenine, Tryptophan, Xanthurenic acid, Nicotinamide, Picolinic acid, Quinolic acid c acid, |
| Amino acids | 5 months | Serum: 1-MH, 3-MH, ADMa, Alanine, Arginine, Asparagine, Aspartic acid, Cystathionine, Glutamic acid, Glutamine, Histidine, Homoarginine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Methionine sulfoxide, Ornithine, Phenylalanine, Proline, SDMA, Threonine, Total Cysteine, Trimethyllysine, Tyrosine, Valine |
| Mercury | 5 months | Total hair mercury concentration |
| Creatinine | 5 months | Serum Creatinine |
| Fatty acids | 5 months | RBC: C16:3n3 (HTA), C20:5n3 (EPA), C22:6n3 (DHA), Sum n-3, C18:2n6 (LA), C30:3n6 (ETE), C20:4n6 (AA), C22:4n& (AdA), Sum n-6, Ratio n-3/n-6, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, C22:0, C16:1, C18:1, C24:1n9 |
| Ferritin | 5 months | Serum ferritin |
| 25-hydroxyvitamin D | 5 months | serum 25(OH)D3 |
| Iodine concentration | 5 months | Urinary iodine concentration |
| Inflammation | 5 months | Serum: Kynureine/Tryptophan-ratio, Neopterin, PAr index |
Countries
Norway
Outcome results
None listed