Question: I saw a program on television which said that oily fish is good for kid’s brains and behaviour but I have enough problems getting them to eat vegetables never mind sardines, salmon or mackerel. Is it worth all the effort?

17 September, 2008 – 15:14

Answer: We all have problems getting our children to eat healthily and fish oils are notoriously difficult to fit into a child’s diet.

Older readers may even remember that over the war they were forced to take a spoonful of raw cod liver oil every day. A taste I’ve no doubt they will never forget.

The real problem is that fish oils are incredibly good for children and people of all ages. It was actually Professor Winston in his TV program who highlighted that children taking fish oils learn faster, think and behave better.

Scientists have actually found that children between the ages of 6 and 12, who took fish oils, had fewer temper tantrums, sleep, learning and general health problems than those who didn’t take any.

Even young children benefit, with another group of scientists finding that children who were fed fish oils up to the age of one still had better eye and brain skills after their third birthday.

So it’s definitely worth the effort of getting some fish oils inside your children.

Oily fish are easy to find and the best are cold-water fish such as sardines, herring, mackerel, bluefish, salmon and trout, all of which contain large amounts of Omega 3s, which is the part of the oil which does all the good.

But feeding children these types of fish, is as you say, easier said than done, especially when they are very young.