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Study: Eating fish makes kids more intelligent

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-10 13:39

STOCKHOLM -- Eating fish makes your children smarter, according to a Swedish study published on Monday.

It found that 15-year-old boys who ate fish at least once a week scored high in intelligence tests when they turned 18 than those who it ate it less frequently.

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"We found a clear link between frequent fish consumption and higher scores when the teenagers ate fish at least once a week," said one of the researchers, Professor Kjell Toren from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.

On average, eating fish once a week can increase combined, verbal and visuospatial intelligence scores by six percent, while eating fish more than once a week increased them by 11 percent, the researchers said.

The study, based on responses from nearly 4,000 Swedish teenagers and published in the March issue of Acta Paediatrica, thought that omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in fish could be the key to improved cognitive performance.

The researchers also planned to examine if the kind of fish consumed makes any difference to the results.