![Children who ate more fish were able to sleep better.]()
If you are like most parents, you’ve had your fair share of bedtime troubles. What if the answer was as simple as the food that you place on your child’s dinner plate?
If you are like most parents, you’ve had your fair share of bedtime troubles. What if the answer was as simple as the food that you place on your child’s dinner plate?Fish is rich in omega-3s, the fatty acids found in many types of fish. While previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between omega-3 consumption and sleep, as well as omega-3 intake and improved intelligence, the three have never been connected before, until now.
The new study, published this month in Scientific Reports, found that children who ate more fish were able to sleep better, which subsequently led to higher IQ test scores. University of Pennsylvania researchers distributed questionnaires to the parents of 514 Chinese school children between the ages of 9 and 12 years old. 54 percent of the children were male and, 46 percent were female.
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According to a press release, the parents were asked to record how often the children consumed fish, ranging in options from “never” to “at least once a week.” Utilizing the Children Sleep Habits Questionnaire, parents also answered questions about their child’s sleep habits, including sleep duration, the frequency of night waking, and daytime sleepiness.
When the children in the study reached the age of 12, they took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IQ test, which measures both verbal and nonverbal skills, such as vocabulary and math.
The study found that those children who ate fish at least once a week scored 4.8 points higher on the IQ test than those children who seldom or never consumed fish. Even those who occasionally ate fish scored an average 3.3 points higher than those who did not. In addition, the study found that more frequent fish consumption was associated with fewer sleep disturbances. As a result, researchers believe that sleep may be the possible link between fish consumption and intelligence.
Related: Childhood Sleep Disturbances May be Misdiagnosed as ADHD
“Fish helps with sleep, and this results in higher IQ,” said the lead author, Jianghong Liu. “If parents want their kids to be healthy and high performing in school, they should put fish on the table.”
Study author Jennifer Pinto-Martin suggests that children should be introduced to fish as early as ten months old, assuming the fish is carefully chopped and does not contain any bones.
“Introducing the taste early makes it more palatable,” Pinto-Martin said. “It really has to be a concerted effort, especially in a culture where fish is not as commonly served or smelled. Children are sensitive to smell. If they’re not used to it, they may shy away from it.”
The study did not analyze the types of fish that children consumed, although researchers plan to do so in future studies. The researchers also plan to expand on this observational study by developing randomized control trials to demonstrate the impact of fish consumption on sleep, school performance, and other real-life outcomes.
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