Parents naturally want to give their kids the best chance at a full, happy life that they can. This, of course, includes setting their children up for success socially. According to a recent study, there may be one food parents can feed their kids that will help with this.
A study published last week in the European Journal of Nutrition suggested that kids who eat seafood at a young age will be better prepared for social situations. According to researchers, seafood has significant cognitive benefits, but they have not previously been studied in children. They sought to change that.
Researchers mentioned that seafood contains elements that are “crucial for cognitive function and development,” like docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosahexaenoic acid (EPA). An article published in Cureus explained that both DHA and EPA are considered forms of omega-3s or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The article stated that PUFAs like Omega “(have) an essential impact on cognitive performance at all stages of life.”
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For their study on the effects of seafood in children, researchers turned to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Pregnant women who resided in Avon, U.K. and delivered between April 1, 1991 and December 31, 1992 were invited to participate in the study. There were 20,248 pregnancies in which mothers could have chosen to participate, and a total of 14,541 chose to do so. Of this number, there were 14,062 live births and 13,988 children who lived to be one year old. After seven years, the study took on 913 new children to “bolster” it.
Several different factors were measured in the children, including how often they ate certain foods, their IQ at eight years old, their Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) results at seven and nine, and their prosocial tendencies.
Prosocial behaviors were measured as part of the SDQ. “The Prosocial subscore represents the child’s ability to carry out actions intended to benefit one or more people other than him/herself,” researchers explained.
“Previous research has highlighted the importance of seafood consumption in providing essential nutrients for neurodevelopment prenatally, but there has been less research on the role of seafood intakes in childhood,” researchers said. “We found a positive association between seafood intake and the Prosocial strengths score, a subscale of the SDQ, at both seven- and nine-years-old.” Because of this, researchers concluded that DHA positively affected neurodevelopment.
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Some parents will be thrilled to hear that their children’s love of fish sticks is actually doing something good for their brains and behaviors. But, for others whose kids aren’t big seafood fans, this will be disappointing news. Is it possible that kids could be social without an increased seafood intake?
For these parents, there is no need to fret. As Rae Jacobson wrote for the Child Mind Institute“While parents can’t make friends for their children, they can help them develop and practice key social skills.” Doing things like coaching kids and practicing positive social behaviors at home and at playdates can all be beneficial for children and their prosocial tendencies, or lack thereof.
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For children who need an extra social nudge, eating some seafood may be just the thing that does the trick. Or, for kids who already enjoy seafood, parents may notice that they seem to make friends easily.
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However, it’s important to remember that a diet rich in seafood is not the only path for kids to make friends. In fact, if kids were left to depend only on seafood and nothing else, they probably wouldn’t have a very large friend group.
Thankfully, kids who aren’t natural pescatarians won’t lose out on all of the benefits of socializing. And parents with picky eaters won’t be forced to take on any new battles either!
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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
