(CBS News) — Myth has it that fish is brain food — but it just might be more than myth, a new study suggests.
Kids who ate fish at least once a week had intelligence quotients, or IQs, that were nearly 5 points higher than the IQs for kids who ate less fish or none at all, the study found. Fish eaters also slept better.
Though the study was done among Chinese children, American kids are just as likely to benefit from fish, according to lead researcher Jianghong Liu, an associate professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.
“We need to modify the American diet for the betterment of our children,” she said.
“If parents want their children to be healthy and higher-performing, they should put fish on the table once a week,” Liu said. “That is not too much to ask.”
Although the study cannot prove that eating fish accounted for the higher IQs and better sleep, they do seem to be associated, she said.
According to the researchers, the benefit in IQ can be pinned to the better sleep afforded by omega-3 fatty acids found in many types of fish.
Read more and see video, here.
