Facts About Pharmaceutical Fish Oil Supplements For Kids

by Patsy Hamilton

Current recommendations concerning pharmaceutical fish oil supplements for kids arise, at least in part, from research conducted at Oxford University in 2005. Researchers investigating the possible benefits of fish oil supplements for children with developmental coordination disorder, a condition affecting approximately 5% of school age children, concluded that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may be a safe and effective treatment option for educational and behavioral problems.

Kids and fish oil may not seem to go together. Most of us remember our mothers forcing nasty cod liver oil down our throats, but today’s fish oil supplements are quite an improvement. The better pharmaceutical fish oil supplements for kids (and adults) are molecularly distilled. Molecular distillation removes not only impurities and contaminants, but also odor and taste.

You may be wondering what exactly are the benefits of fish oil supplements. For kids, the biggest benefits are to the brain. Omega-3 fatty acids are absolutely essential for growing brains and the best known source of omega-3 fatty acids is the flesh of fatty fish.

Because of concerns over mercury contamination in most of the world’s fish, many parents consider pharmaceutical fish oil supplements for kids to be a safer choice. Even with supplementation, fish is still important to the diet, but experts recommend limiting servings of most types of fish to three times per week and in some cases less, particularly for women of child-bearing age and children.

There are several types of fats in the human diet. Two of these are referred to as omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that the average diet is too high in omega-6 fatty acids, found in most meats and dairy products, and too low in omega-3s. .

Dosage recommendations for fish oil supplements vary, depending on several factors. Body weight is of course a primary consideration for children. For healthy adults and teenagers over the age of 14, the daily recommended intake of omega-3 fatty acids is 1600mg for men and 1100mg for women. For adults with heart disease or arthritis, the dosage recommendation is usually higher.

Dosage recommendations for pharmaceutical fish oil supplements for kids have not been absolutely established, but acceptable intake levels of omega-3 fatty acids for children have been defined. From one to three years of age the omega-3 recommendation is 700mg/day, for ages 4-8 900mg/day and for ages 9-13 1200mg/day.

If after evaluating your child’s normal diet, you do not believe that he or she is getting enough omega-3s, supplementation may be advisable. In addition, there may be benefits of fish oil supplements for children with learning or behavioral problems.

The fish oil supplements used in the Oxford study contained a total of 732mg of omega-3 fatty acids, given on a daily basis to children between the ages of 5 and12 years of age. Researchers had hoped to see improvement in motor skills after 3 months of active treatment, but there was no improvement in this area.

The areas that did show a significant improvement were in reading and spelling. A reduction in behavioral problems typically associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder was also noted.

None of the children had been formally diagnosed with ADHD, but their scores on assessment tests placed them within the range for a clinical diagnosis of this disorder. Confirmation of the presence of ADHD would have required a complete psychological assessment and was not feasible during the study.

No adverse side effects were reported in the Oxford study. No health risks are associated with fish oil supplements, except in the case of those people who are taking prescription blood thinners or who have bleeding disorders.

The majority of evidence indicates that reading ability and other literacy skills may be improved by increasing intake of omega-3 fatty acids, so maybe kids and fish oil do go together after all. Maybe our mothers were right. To learn more about pharmaceutical fish oil supplements for kids. or to learn about other health benefits of fish oil, please visit the Fish Oil Guide.

Patsy Hamilton was a health care professional for over twenty years before becoming a freelance writer. Currently she is writing a series of articles about omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil supplements. Read more at http://www.best-fish-oil-dietary-supplements.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patsy_Hamilton

Learn More About FIsh Oil And Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Relationship Between Cod Liver Oil and Constipation Explained
The relationship between cod liver oil and constipation is one of natural treatment and ailment. In other words, cod liver oil has been used to provide natural relief from constipation for many years....
Nutritional Wonders - Fish Oil With Omega 3 Fatty Acids
There is much to be learned about fish oil with omega 3 fatty acids and it is best to understand what it is were dealing with and the powerful health affects it has on the human body. It is known that...
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Primary Care Physicians
Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI recently published the results of a survey concerning omega-3 fatty acids and primary care physicians. Specifically, this survey looked at how frequently primary...

> Back to Omega 3 Fatty Acids And Fish Oil Benefits