Diet and Learning Abilities in Norwegian Youths

January 11, 2016 updated by: Lisbeth Dahl, National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, Norway
The aim of this study is to assess the effects of giving a schoolmeal with fatty fish, a schoolmeal without fish or omega-3 capsules on Noregian adolescents cognitive performance (concentration and learning abilities), mental health statua and markers of nutritional status. In addition, to disentangle the effect of fatty fish eaten as food and the effects of omega-3 fatty acids taken as a supplement.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

There has been an increased attention to the role of nutrition for learning abilities among schoolchildren. As the diet provides humans with energy and several essential nutrients, a balanced supply of all nutrients promotes not only physical growth and health, but also cognitive development, helping children to learn from infancy throughout adolescence and beyond. In a three-armed non-blinded intervention trial the investigators will test whether ingestion of a schoolmeal or omega-3 capsules will improve cognitive function among pupils in 9th grade at eight lower secondary school. The pupils will be randomised into three groups, one group will be served lunch with fatty fish, one group will be served similar lunch with meat/cheese (without fish) and one group will recieve omega-3 capsules three times week over a period of 12 weeks. At the beginning and at the end of the study, pupils should conduct cognitive tests, and blood-, urine- and hair samples will be taken. The pupils should also answer a questionnaire on their diet, physical activity, sleep pattern and mental health.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

478

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Norway
      • Bergen, Norway, 5004
        • Lisbeth Dahl

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 15 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • girls and boys at lower secondary schools (9th grade)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • allergy or intolerance to the food or food ingredients in the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Schoolmeal with fatty fish
Fatty fish diet
Other: Schoolmeal with fatty fish
Schoolmeal with fatty fish three times a week for 12 weeks
Experimental: Schoolmeal without fish
Meat/cheese diet (non-seafood)
Other: Schoolmeal without fish
Schoolmeal with meat/cheese three times a week for 12 weeks
Experimental: Supplement
Omega-3 capsules
Dietary supplement: Supplement
Omega-3 capsules three times a week for 12 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Concentration performance and literary skills
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Age stanardardized d2 test of attention. Abilities in reading and spelleing through a Norwegain based intrument developed to evaluate the childrens literacy skills in the Norwegain language.
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fatty acids
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Levels of fatty acids in red blood cells before and after the intervention
12 weeks
Vitamin D status
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in serum blood before and after the intervention
12 weeks
Mental health
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Mental health status measured by the Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ)
12 weeks
Iodine
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Levels of iodine in urine samples before and after the intervention
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, Norway

Collaborators

University of Tromso
NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

Investigators

  • Study Director: Ingvild Eide Graff, PhD, NIFES, PO Box 2029 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 19, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 25, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

January 29, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 12, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 11, 2016

Last Verified

January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FHF 900842 WP6

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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