Omega-3, Omega-6 Supplements Improve Reading Skills in Children

If your child is having difficulty reading, rather than hiring a tutor, the solution could lie in fatty acid supplementation. This is the latest conclusion of a  new study from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and published in The Journal of Child Psychology  and Psychiatry. The research was led by Mats Johnson, chief physician and researcher at the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre at Sahlgrenska Academy at the university.

“He and his colleagues noted that previous research has suggested there may be positive effects of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in children with inattention and reading difficulties. As such, the team wanted to see if the fatty acids would improve reading ability in mainstream schoolchildren.”  The study included 154 schoolchildren from western Sweden in grade 3 between nine and ten years old.

The children took a computer-based test that measured the reading skills of these kids.  The children were then assigned to receive capsules of Omega-3 and Omega-6 or identical capsules that contained a placebo for 3 months. It was not revealed which students were given the Omega-3, Omega-6 capsules and which were given the placebos.  After three months, all children received real Omega-3/6 capsules for the final three months of the study.  After three months the childrens’ reading skills improved with the addition of the fatty acids compared with that of the placebo.  This was especially evident in their reading of some nonsense words and correctly pronouncing it.  These children improved in other tests of reading as well.

Although the human body can make most of the fats it needs from other fats or raw materials, omega-3 and omega-6 are essential fats that the body must acquire from food. Foods high in omega-3 include fish, vegetable oils, nuts, flax seeds, and leafy vegetables. Meanwhile, most omega-6 fatty acids in the diet are derived from vegetable oils.

“Johnson, chief physician and researcher at the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre at Sahlgrenska Academy at the university”’ notes that, “polyunsaturated fats – including omega-3 and omega-6 – and their effects on children’s learning and behavior has been a growing area of research.”

According to the team, our modern diet does not contain very much omega-3s. “The cell membranes in the brain are largely made up of polyunsaturated fats, and there are studies that indicate that fatty acids are important for signal transmission between nerve cells and the regulation of signaling systems in the brain,” says Johnson.

Whether the omega 3 and omega 6 had major or minor affects on the childrens’ reading skills, it is still worthy of further investigations. Some of these further investigations studies did suggest, however, that children could benefit from a dietary supplement with a special formula with these very same constituents.

Journal Reference:

1. Mats Johnson, Gunnar Fransson, Sven Östlund, Björn Areskoug, Christopher Gillberg. Omega 3/6 fatty acids for reading in children: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 9-year-old mainstream schoolchildren in Sweden. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2016; DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12614