Nutrition

Eating More Fish Improves Brain Function

Frequent fish consumption may be associated with better sleep quality in children, which in turn, may benefit long-term cognitive function, according to a recent study.

Increased fish consumption is known to improve cognitive function in children. However, the mediating pathways in this association have not been well characterized.
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To explore this further, the researchers assessed a cohort of 541 children aged 9 to 11 years who were living in China. Intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were later evaluated at age 12 years.

Findings from the study show that frequent fish consumption is associated with fewer sleep problems. Furthermore, a dose-response relationship showed that children who always (4.80 points) or sometimes (3.31 points) consumed fish had higher IQ scores vs those who rarely consumed fish.

The researchers noted that sleep quality was a partial mediator in the association of fish consumption with verbal IQ, but not with performance IQ. Findings were robust following adjustment for multiple sociodemographic covariates.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to indicate that frequent fish consumption may help reduce sleep problems (better sleep quality), which may in turn benefit long-term cognitive functioning in children,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Liu J, Cui Y, Li L, et al. The mediating role of sleep in the fish consumption – cognitive functioning relationship: a cohort study [Published online December 21, 2017]. Sci Reports. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-17520-w.