The Feasibility of the "Omega Kid" Study Protocol: A Double-Blind, Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of Omega-3 Supplementation on Self-Regulation in Preschool-Aged Children.

Stuart J. Johnstone,Inge S. M. van der Wurff,Marijka Batterham,Alison Jones,Mitchell K. Byrne,Anthony D. Okely,Renate H. M. de Groot,Ian M. R. Wright,Lauren A. Roach,Steven J. Howard,Barbara J. Meyer

doi:10.3390/nu13010213

Abstract

Self-regulation, the regulation of behaviour in early childhood, impacts children’s success at school and is a predictor of health, wealth, and criminal outcomes in adulthood. Self-regulation may be optimised by dietary supplementation of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs). The aim of the “Omega Kid” study is to investigate the feasibility of a protocol to investigate whether n-3 LCPUFA supplementation enhances self-regulation in preschool-aged children. The protocol assessed involved a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of 12 weeks duration, with an intervention of 1.6 g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day (0.3 g EPA and 1.3 g DHA) in a microencapsulated powder compared to placebo. Children (n = 78; 40 boys and 38 girls) aged 3–5 years old were recruited and randomly allocated to the treatment (n = 39) or placebo group (n = 39). The HS–Omega-3 Index® served as a manipulation check on the delivery of either active (n-3 LCPUFAs) or placebo powders. Fifty-eight children (76%) completed the intervention (28–30 per group). Compliance to the study protocol was high, with 92% of children providing a finger-prick blood sample at baseline and high reported-adherence to the study intervention (88%). Results indicate that the protocol is feasible and may be employed in an adequately powered clinical trial to test the hypothesis that n-3 LCPUFA supplementation will improve the self-regulation of preschool-aged children.

Highlights

Self-regulation is the ability to control one’s emotions and cognition to execute planned behaviours, problem-solve and control impulses [1]
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a parallel design was executed to determine the feasibility of an n-3 LCPUFA supplementation intervention for self-regulation in preschool-aged children compared to placebo supplementation
This study evaluates the feasibility of a trial (“Omega Kid”) to investigate whether n-3

Summary

Introduction

Self-regulation is the ability to control one’s emotions and cognition to execute planned behaviours, problem-solve and control impulses [1]. Children who became more self-controlled from childhood to young adulthood (for whatever reason, as the study of Moffit et al was not an intervention study) had better outcomes at 32 years of age compared to children who did not improve their rank order of self-control [7]. This suggests that (1) self-regulation in childhood can be improved, and (2) improvements can result in better long-term outcomes, even into adulthood

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