A collaborative effort by British, Swiss and Australian scientists and specialists has revealed that 12 weeks of daily multi-vitamin/mineral supplementation can improve the attentiveness of elementary school-aged children, according to the results of attention test scores published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
The 81 children in the study (conducted at Northumbria University in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne) were randomly divided into placebo and control groups and subjected to three rounds of standardized tests at 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The average age of the children was 11 and none of them had used any other dietary supplements for three months prior to the study. Each assessment of cognitive performance comprised of tasks assessing mood and memory, with emphasis on speed and accuracy of attention regarding the latter.
It was discovered that while the multi-vitamin/mineral supplemented children did not experience any detectable changes in mood (in contrast to multi-vitamin/mineral studies among elderly subjects who did), they significantly outperformed the placebo group in two attention tests – both involving reaction time. The study group also outperformed their placebo counterparts in a single task outcome known as ‘Picture Recognition errors’. The scientists concluded that “these results would seem to suggest that vitamin/mineral supplementation has the potential to improve brain function in healthy children.”
Source: Haskell CF, Scholey AB, Jackson PA, Elliott JM, Defeyter MA, Greer J, Robertson BC, Buchanan T, Tiplady B, Kennedy DO. Cognitive and mood effects in healthy children during 12 weeks' supplementation with multi-vitamin/minerals. Br J Nutr. 2008 Nov;100(5):1086-96.
For more information, see Multi-Basics 3, Ortho-Core, and Essential Mix.
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