CHILDREN should be fed postwar rations of cod-liver oil and orange juice at school to improve their diet and concentration, a government-funded research centre said yesterday.

The call for the Government to provide food supplements came after a survey of 1,125 primary school children by the Dyscovery Centre revealed that 86 per cent had not eaten fish in the previous 24 hours. Of those who had, most had eaten fish and chips or fish fingers, which are not rich in nutrients. Only one of the eleven schools taking part served fish on the menu.

Amanda Kirby, founder of the centre, which specialises in supporting people with learning difficulties, said that the results highlighted a lack of vital omega-3 fatty acids in children’s diets, which may be a key factor in causing attention problems and learning difficulties in class.

Dr Kirby said: “The lunchbox survey has shown that a number of children may well be deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins. If the nutrition in school and home is not adequately improved, they may need supplementation.”

The survey also found that almost a quarter of children did not sit with anyone in their family while they ate their supper and that 61 per cent ate it in front of the television. While 61 per cent had a cooked school lunch, about a quarter had eaten chips twice in the previous 24 hours. Nearly three quarters had eaten no fruit, two thirds had eaten no vegetables and 55 per cent had eaten neither in the previous day.

The Government is spending £77 million on ensuring that two million children receive a piece of fruit or vegetable every day, but Dr Kirby said that the link between a diet of oily fish and children’s behaviour at school was being missed.

After the Second World War, British children and pregnant women were given free cod- liver oil and orange juice to boost their levels of vitamin A and D.

Last year Anwen Thompson, who works at Crossley Hall Primary School in Bradford, helped to conduct a nationwide study of 120 children eating a 10ml omega-3 supplement over six weeks. Parents and teachers measured a 35 per cent improvement in the children’s concentration and behaviour overall, although some registered little difference.

“One seven-year-old started reading all of a sudden, a six-year-old calmed down at home and school and his learning improved and a nine-year-old found he could concentrate longer,” Mrs Thompson said.

Mrs Thompson is convinced of the need for supplements in school. However, she says that they must be available to everyone. “Most parents can’t afford the supplements which range from £4 a bottle to £14 — and they do need to be affordable for every parent.”

In 1978 the World Health Organisation published a report concluding that there was clear evidence that omega-3 fatty acids were essential for the development of the brain in infants. All babies’ formula milk now contains omega-3, which occurs naturally in breast milk.

Twenty-five years ago, scientists thought that the structure of the brain was genetic, but now they are convinced that short-term influences, such as omega-3, are as important for developing the brain.

According to Michael Crawford, director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in London, the lack of fatty acids in children’s diets today is creating a timebomb.

Professor Crawford points out that while heart disease is the main threat to health in Britain, mental illness is close behind and that gap is predicted to narrow in the next 15 years.

Recent studies, he says, have linked incidents of depression and mental illness, known as behaviour pathology, with a low consumption of oily fish. In addition, studies in America and Sweden appear to have shown a link in women eating fish while pregnant with children who have a higher IQ.

Professor Crawford, who has told Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, of his concerns, believes that eating more fish is vital to the mental as well as physical health of the nation.

FISHING FOR IDEAS?

Make your own salmon fingers — cut salmon into strips, coat in egg and breadcrumbs and fry in a little oil. Serve with home-made potato wedges, peas and a dip made from reduced-fat mayo and tomato ketchup

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Should schools go back to dispensing cod-liver oil?
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