When and how to shape a child’s brain development is crucial. Many propose computer programs. But experts have the opinion that it would be useless to do it once the child’s brain development has actually stopped.
An excellent time to help with a child’s brain development is even before the baby is born up until it reaches three years of age. This is the best time to have the most impact on the child’s brain development and its ability to learn for the rest of their life.
It may appear unusual to begin even before a child is able to read, write or reason, but there are studies to back this and it has shown that all these skills begin to develop even before a child goes to kindergarten.
Recently there was a research study conducted that was published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology [Vol. 42: 174-181], where doctors used 56 babies as their subject, and they were as young as 5 days old. Their diets were filled with omega 3 fish oil fatty acids and DHA.
The set of babies that were given DHA showed significantly higher cognitive and motor skills, as compared to the other set of babies (those without fish oil supplements) based on the “Mental Development Index.”
The doctors then made a conclusion that a dietary supply of fish oil with DHA at an early age is a major factor in determining improved performance and mental development among full term babies.
Research conducted among premature babies, which was published in the Clinics of Perinatology, [Vol. 22(1):157-75], discovered that even premature babies can also have benefits from fish oil. After they were supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids and DHA, a remarkable improvement was seen in their cognitive and visual development.
These are just a few of the many research findings that have proven the secret to a child’s brain development is providing it with enough omega 3 and DHA.
DHA consists of rich long-chain omega 3 in the brain tissue. Roughly 95% of these lipids can be found during birth and develops to be a part of these tissues even inside the uterus and continues during the first year of life.
So it does make sense for pregnant women to consume more fish and get a supplement of fish oil. This is a good way to build a good foundation on a child’s brain development from the very start and will surely be a big factor to determine its intelligence and ability to learn in the future.
After that, be sure that you breast-feed during the first year. High amounts of omega 3′s can be found in breast milk.
A report was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and it demonstrates that even small amounts of dietary fish oil with DHA helps in increasing breast milk content. [Vol. 40, 780-785]
These findings on brain development persuaded my wife to use fish oil during pregnancy and lactation, and to give our children supplements of salmon oil while they were only six months old.
We would remove the oil from the capsules and place it in spoons then feed it to them. Now, we get comments on how smart they are and their good test scores can prove it.
However, the best part is they are happy and healthy children too. Give your kids fish oil and you will be happy you did.
