Start the School Year top of the class

Whether your child is returning back to school in September after a hot fun-filled summer, or whether they are starting school or moving up to a new school for the first time – preparing to go back to school can be stressful for both you and your child.{{more}}

Your child will either fall into one of two categories – they are really looking forward to going back to school or they’re dreading it – chances are you’re already on countdown to the start of the school year!

You might well be already adding a new school uniform, lunchbox, and pencil case to the back to school shopping list, but it is also important to ensure your child’s concentration levels are back in full gear for the upcoming school year. In addition to sending them to bed earlier, waking them up earlier in the morning and throwing in a few brainteasers such as a word search to kick-start their brain, you may want to look at what they eat.

It has been shown that children’s nutritional intake may be related to their mental performance and concentration levels. When we learn something new, our brain cells send messages to one another but to do this efficiently the cells need proper nourishment and that’s why food is a powerful tool for maintaining brainpower.

For generations, fish has long been known as brain food because it is rich with essential long chain fatty acids – or Omega-3, which is regarded as the building blocks of the brain. Increasing evidence suggests that children’s dietary intake of Omega-3 is related to mental performance and concentration levels.

Over 23 schools and 120 children, aged between 6 and 11, took part in one of the largest multicentre studies across the UK to find out whether a daily dose of Omega-3 with vitamins would help their concentration and behaviour in schools and at home1. The results showed that supplementing with Omega-3 with vitamins substantially improved the children’s behaviour by 35% with teachers and parents noticing improvements in attention levels and that the children were generally more alert, focused and conscientious.

Although Omega-3 is widely regarded as beneficial for children, it can be difficult to get them to eat oily fish, particularly when taste is so important. Fortunately, there are delicious alternatives available such as Haliborange Omega-3 which can provide children with all the goodness of fish without the taste!

So why not take the stress out of going back to school this September and enjoy the summer holidays with your child to the max.