Multivitamins and Minerals Help Children’s Brain Function
Lee Swanson, President Swanson Vitamins
February 2009
Daily supplements of multivitamins and minerals may improve the brain function of children, says a new study from British and Australian researchers.
Twelve weeks of supplementation with vitamins and minerals was found to boost the attention scores of children, according to results published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
"This represents the first observation of acute behavioral effects of vitamins/minerals in human subjects," wrote the researchers, led by Professor David Kennedy from Northumbria University in Newcastle. "Naturally, these observations require replication in larger cohorts, but they do suggest that this matter should be given some priority," the researchers added.
The Newcastle-based researchers, in collaboration with scientists from Swinburne University in Australia, and the University of Westminster in London, recruited 81 children (average age 11) to participate in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel groups investigation.
The children were reportedly all healthy and free from food allergy. In addition, none of the children used other dietary supplements during the three months prior to the study. Participants were randomly assigned to daily multivitamin and mineral supplements or placebo for 12 weeks.
Cognitive performance was measured using a battery of laboratory assessments. Measures were taken before the study, after one and three hours after the first dose, and after 12 weeks.
Kennedy and his co-workers report that the children in the vitamin/mineral group performed more accurately on the two tests of attention. Indeed, the researchers noted the first signs of improvement only three hours after the first dose on the first day.
"The most surprising facet of the improvement in attention task performance seen here is that it became evident by three hours post-dose on the first day," researchers wrote. "To the best of our knowledge, the possibility that vitamins or minerals could exert behavioral effects after a single dose has not been explored," they added.
British Journal of Nutrition 100(5):1086-1096, 2008
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