14 DAY TRIAL // University of Oxford investigators determined in a new study that consuming higher amounts of omega-3 acids can have very beneficial effects on children's sleep patterns. The team determined that taking supplements for around 4 months allowed the young ones to sleep about an hour longer every night, while also reducing the incidence of episodes where they wake up during the night.
The investigation was conducted on 362 otherwise-healthy children in the United Kingdom. All test participants, ages 7 to 9, had their blood levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids measured at the beginning of the study. The young ones were selected based on their struggles with reading during primary school, not their sleep problems.
According to the team, this represents the first study ever to investigate the connection between omega-3 fatty acids and sleep patterns in healthy children. “To find clinical level sleep problems in four in 10 of this general population sample is a cause for concern,” says professor Paul Montgomery, PhD, the lead author of the new study.
Children who received 600-milligram capsules of omega-3 fatty acids for 16 weeks exhibited significant improvements in sleep patterns, of up to 58 minutes per day. On average, the little ones and their parents reported 7 fewer waking episodes per night, when compared to kids who received a placebo, PsychCentral reports.