The children in the group who ate fish displayed more 'prosocial' behaviours. Stock image: Getty
The children in the group who ate fish displayed more 'prosocial' behaviours. Stock image: Getty
Ella Pickover
Today at 03:30
Children who regularly eat fish could be more sociable and kind than their peers, a new study suggests.
Academics said that encouraging children to eat fish is “likely to have a positive effect on child development”.
Researchers from the University of Bristol said that seafood is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, selenium and iodine – which have previously been found to play an important role in brain development and cognitive function.
As a result they wanted to investigate whether there is a link between seafood consumption in children at the age of seven, and any possible cognitive and behavioural changes when they were aged seven, eight or nine.
They examined long-term data on almost 6,000 children in England.
The average amount of fish eaten each week was 123g.
Some 7.2pc of children ate no fish every week; 63.9pc ate 190g per week and 28.9pc consumed more than 190g of fish each week – the equivalent of more than two portions.
So-called “white-coated fish products” – fish fingers or similar – made up almost half (46pc) of the average total seafood intake.
Children who ate no fish were more likely to display “suboptimal prosocial behaviour”. The study has been published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
“Prosocial” behaviour includes friendly interactions, altruism and sharing.
At seven years old children who consumed no fish, compared with those who ate at least 190g of fish each week, were 35pc more likely to display “suboptimal prosocial behaviour”.
This increased to 43pc among nine-year-olds.
The researchers also wanted to assess whether there was any measurable differences between intelligence among fish eaters and those who did not eat fish, but did not find any differences among the eight-year-olds studied, regardless of their fish intake.