Omega-3 Dietary Supplement for Children 2 Years & Up
Supports Brain Development, Visual & Nervous System Function
Nordic Naturals DHA Junior is a small, strawberry flavored chewable children's DHA supplement. DHA Junior is a delicious way for children to get this essential "brain food" into their diet. Molecularly distilled for purity, DHA Junior contains naturally occurring vitamins A & D. The only formula with natural A & D vitamins, no synthetic vitamins added back into formula.
Nutrient Support DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in Deep-Sea cold water fish. DHA, is an essential nutrient for proper brain, visual and nervous system function, and must be obtained through the diet.A healthy balance of DHA is "essential" to properly care for the brain throughout life, particularly during the early stages of development. A high concentration of DHA can be found in mother?s breast milk, however the level is directly related to the amount of Omega-3 fatty acids that are consumed in the mother?s diet. Due to refined foods and trendy diets, many individuals have reduced their intake of the dietary sources of Omega-3 fatty acids, contributing to lower levels of DHA in breast milk. The impact of low DHA intake on neurological function of adults and children is the subject of ongoing clinical investigations.
Serving Size: 4 soft gels Servings Per Container: 45
Active Ingredients:
Calories 9
Calories from fat 9
Total fat 1.0 g
Saturated fat 0 g
Trans fat 0 g
Vitamin A 130-300 IU
Vitamin D 1-4 IU
Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) 14 IU
Omega-3s DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) 125 mg EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) 82 mg Other Omega-3s 45 mg Total Omega-3s 252 mg
Oleic acid (Omega-9) 120 mg
Less than 5 mg of cholesterol per serving.
Inactive Ingredients: Purified arctic cod live oil, soft gel (gelatin, water, glycerin, strawberry essence), d-alpha tocopherol, strawberry essence, rosemary extract.
Recommended Dosage: For children over 2 years old. 4 to 8 soft gels per day, or as directed by your health care professional or pharmacist.
Contains No gluten, yeast, milk derivatives, artificial colors or flavors.
Warning: Do not take this product if you are using blood thinners or anticipate surgery. Consult with your physician before using this product if you are diabetic or allergic to iodine. Keep out of the reach of children.
Read customer questions and answers about Omega-3 on our blog.
DHA FOR CHILDREN?
DHA Basics: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is a long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 essential fatty acid. Omega-3 fats (along with omega-6 fats) are "essential" fats because humans are unable to synthesize them de novo, meaning that they must be consumed to meet the body?s needs. DHA is found throughout the body, and the brain in particular is very rich in DHA, where it increases membrane fluidity, promotes neurite (axonal and dendritic) outgrowth, and has many other functions.
Importance for Visual and Cognitive Development: Proper nutrition with DHA may be especially important for infants and children because of its importance to the development of the visual and nervous systems. DHA seems likely to promote visual acuity and cognitive development in infants (Uauy, et al 2001). In fact, a recent study demonstrated that children whose mothers had taken 10 mL/day of cod liver oil during pregnancy and lactation had higher IQ?s at age four than those whose mothers had taken corn oil (Helland, et al 2003).
Impact on Learning and Behavior: Although the picture becomes progressively more complex with age, omega-3 fatty acids appear to be important for learning and behavior in older children. One study found that boys ages 6 to 12 with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids had a greater number of behavior problems, temper tantrums, sleep problems, and learning problems than their peers (Stevens, et al 1996). These findings correspond with a number of studies demonstrating that DHA supplementation reduces elevations in aggression (Hamazaki, et al 1999; Hamazaki, et al 1996) and hostility (Hamazaki, et al 2000) in response to psychological stress among Japanese college students.
Effects of Dietary Supplementation: Fortunately, dietary DHA supplementation has been shown to normalize brain fatty acids in omega-3 deficient animals (Connor, et al 1990; Gamoh, et al 1999) as well as to ameliorate the learning deficits induced by omega-3 insufficiencies (Carrie, et al 2002; Gamoh, et al 1999; Takeuchi, et al 2002). All of these intervention studies used either DHA or fish oil, as opposed to the shorter chain omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), as from flaxseed oil. Most studies indicate that even with very high doses of ALA, very little actually converts to DHA (Brenna, 2002; Gerster, 1998), suggesting that it is unlikely that supplementation with ALA would have the clinical impact that fish oil supplementation has been shown to possess.
Potential Benefits for Specific Disorders:Although the literature is far from conclusive, omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA) may also have therapeutic value for ADHD (Burgess, et al 2000), autism (Vancassel, et al 2001), dyslexia (Richardson and Puri, 2002), and many other disorders that affect pediatric populations. In fact, Nordic Naturals products have been specifically recommended by different authors for use in managing pediatric cases of bipolar disorder (Papolos and Papolos, 1999), ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia (Stordy, et al 2000). Additional research is available at www.nordicnaturals.com
References:
Brenna JT. Efficiency of conversion of alpha-linolenic acid to long chain n-3 fatty acids in man. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2002 Mar;5(2):127-32.
Burgess JR, Stevens L, Zhang W, Peck L. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jan;71(1 Suppl):327S- 30S.
Carrie I, Smirnova M, Clement M, DE JD, Frances H, Bourre JM. Docosahexaenoic acid-rich phospholipid supplementation: effect on behavior, learning ability, and retinal function in control and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deficient old mice. Nutr Neurosci. 2002 Feb;5(1):43-52.
Connor WE, Neuringer M, Lin DS. Dietary effects on brain fatty acid composition: the reversibility of n-3 fatty acid deficiency and turnover of docosahexaenoic acid in the brain, erythrocytes, and plasma of rhesus monkeys. J Lipid Res. 1990 Feb;31(2):237-47.
Gerster H. Can adults adequately convert alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3) to eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3)? Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1998;68(3):159-73.
Gamoh S, Hashimoto M, Sugioka K, Shahdat Hossain M, Hata N, Misawa Y, Masumura S. Chronic administration of docosahexaenoic acid improves reference memory-related learning ability in young rats. Neuroscience. 1999;93(1):237-41.
Hamazaki T, Itomura M, Sawazaki S, Nagao Y. Anti-stress effects of DHA. Biofactors. 2000;13(1-4):41-5.
Hamazaki T, Sawazaki S, Itomura M, Asaoka E, Nagao Y, Nishimura N, Yazawa K, Kuwamori T, Kobayashi M. The effect of docosahexaenoic acid on aggression in young adults. A placebo-controlled double-blind study. J Clin Invest. 1996 Feb 15;97(4):1129-33.
Hamazaki T, Sawazaki S, Nagasawa T, Nagao Y, Kanagawa Y, Yazawa K. Administration of docosahexaenoic acid influences behavior and plasma catecholamine levels at times of psychological stress. Lipids. 1999;34 Suppl:S33-7.
Helland IB, Smith L, Saarem K, Saugstad OD, Drevon CA. Maternal supplementation with very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and lactation augments children's IQ at 4 years of age. Pediatrics. 2003 Jan;111(1):e39-44.
Papolos D, Papolos J (1999), The Bipolar Child: The definitive and reassuring guide to childhood?s most misunderstood disorder. New York: Broadway Books.
Richardson AJ, Puri BK. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2002 Feb;26(2):233-9.
Stevens LJ, Zentall SS, Abate ML, Kuczek T, Burgess JR. Omega-3 fatty acids in boys with behavior, learning, and health problems. Physiol Behav. 1996 Apr-May;59(4-5):915-20.
Stordy JB, Nicholl MJ, Stordy J (2000). The LCP Solution: The remarkable nutritional treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia & Dyspraxia. New York: Ballantine Books.
Takeuchi T, Fukumoto Y, Harada E. Influence of a dietary n-3 fatty acid deficiency on the cerebral catecholamine contents, EEG and learning ability in rat. Behav Brain Res. 2002 Apr 1;131(1-2):193-203.
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