How to feed the brains of school-age children?

The brains of school-age children are subjected to a double daily challenge: to develop and to learn useful notions in school and in social life. To do this best it must be supported equally well. Here, too, the contribution of nutrition and nutritional supplements is far from negligible. Let's find out how to nourish the brain at this particular stage of life.

For children and young people, the skills of reasoning, thinking, remembering and planning are critical to coping with everyday life. At stake are not only school performance but also social interactions.

All these capacities develop precisely during childhood and adolescence. In parallel, the brain changes both in its structure and in its functioning; how to help it? 

Nutrition also offers important support. For example, foods rich in B vitamins (biotin, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and vitamins B6 and B12) support nervous system functioning and help optimize mental performance, while at the same time helping to reduce fatigue and promote psychological well-being. Vitamin C and several minerals (copper, iodine, magnesium, and potassium) also have properties that are useful for proper nervous system functioning. On the other hand, zinc, iron, the aforementioned iodine and some plant-derived extracts, such as Bacopa monnieri, are useful for supporting, more specifically, cognitive abilities.

Bacopa monnieri: the plant allied to the mind  

Bacopa monnieri is a plant with a millennia-old tradition of use. Also known as Brahmi, it is classified by Ayurvedic medicine as Medhya Rasayana; put in Western terms, it is a "nootropic," that is, a remedy that improves memory and cognitive abilities. Its most important active ingredients are bacosides A and B, which act on the central nervous system by regulating neurotransmitter acetylcholine-dependent messages at more than one level, exerting anxiolytic effects and also protecting against phenomena associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Much of the evidence for its benefits comes from studies in adults, in which it has been shown to improve memory, attention, cognitive ability and mood. However, there is no shortage of research that has examined its possible benefits for children. As early as 1987, Sharma and colleagues observed increased reasoning skills, exploratory motivation (the drive to examine one's surroundings, which is fundamental to learning) and improved perceptual organization (the process that allows the brain to interpret and structure information that comes from the senses) of school-age children (6-8 years old) who had taken 350 mg of a Bacopa syrup 3 times a day for 3 months.

In 2000, however, Negi and colleagues analyzed the effects of 2 daily doses of Bacopa 50 mg, taken for 12 weeks, in children diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Compared with those who did not take it, the children who received Bacopa saw significant improvements in their ability to repeat sentences, logical memory, and their scores on tests similar to the well-known "memory" game. What's more, these improvements were persistent and evident even 4 weeks after they stopped taking Bacopa.

A few years later, in 2008, Usha and colleagues focused on the effects of Bacopa on the cognitive abilities of children and young people with Limited Cognitive Functioning, that is, with an IQ (IQ) between 70 and 85-90 points. These children do not have cognitive impairment, but their IQ scores are below typical scores for intelligence considered normal. The study involved 28 children aged 4 to 18 years (13 boys and 15 girls) taking 225 mg per day of BacoMind®, a patented Bacopa monnieri extract, for 4 months. Tests conducted showed significant improvements in several memory components:

• working memory, that is, the memory that enables one to retain and reprocess information while performing tasks;
• verbal short-term memory, which is the ability to temporarily store and recall, for a short period, information read or heard;
• logical memory, which is the ability to understand, retain and recall information based on logical connections and meanings;
• The memory associated with personal life;
• visual and auditory memory, that is, the ability to remember what one has seen or heard, respectively.

In 2016, a group of researchers from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, took stock of studies looking at the effects of Bacopa in children and adolescents. "The results," the authors explained, "demonstrate significant and consistent improvements (...) in several sub-domains of memory." Only 2.3 percent of the children dealt with mild side effects, so much so that the researchers emphasized the possibility of making "safe use of Bacopa monnieri to improve aspects in the cognitive, behavioral, and attention deficit domains in children and adolescents."

Help from the right fats

Shifting the focus to macronutrients, Omega 3s can also support school-age children and young people. In particular, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a fat in which fish and marine oils (from fish, krill, and microalgae) are rich, "contributes to the maintenance of normal brain function."

This Omega 3 corresponds to about 15-20% of the fats in the frontal portion of the adult brain, where it participates in the control of executive functions, influencing working memory, planning and problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and brain plasticity, which-not coincidentally-are associated precisely with frontal lobe development.

Dietary intake of DHA has been associated with neurocognitive development and, more specifically, attention and memory. Its intake in supplement form has also shown evidence of positive effects on cognitive function; for example, fish oil has been associated with modulation of brain activities on which memory depends, interpreted by researchers as improving cognitive and attention span.

The benefits of DHA would depend on its important structural role in the brain. Having sufficient amounts of it allows neurons to grow and develop connections with other nerve cells. DHA supplements could therefore support the formation of nerve networks and, thus, brain development and cognitive functioning.

Many of the clues to the possible benefits of Omega 3s for children's brains also come from studies on ADHD. One of the theories about the origin of this condition points the finger precisely at the deficiency of DHA and the other marine-derived Omega 3, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). The greater the Omega 3 deficiency, the more pronounced the symptoms of ADHD, and clinical studies suggest that these fats may assist in the treatment of these symptoms, moreover, with a better safety profile than that of the most common pharmacological remedies.

In the case of ADHD, the benefits of Omega 3s would depend on their anti-inflammatory properties, ability to regulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system, and positive effect on the gut microbiota.

Finally, the benefits of Omega 3 for the brain appear to be enhanced by its combination with another fat with anti-inflammatory properties, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Particularly abundant in oil extracted from borage (Borago officinalis) seeds, GLA is an Omega 6 important for nerve cell membrane integrity and adequate blood flow to nerves.

Dietary supplements combining EPA, DHA and GLA are becoming increasingly common; this combination seems particularly effective in inhibiting the formation of pro-inflammatory molecules, excesses of which, especially if sustained over time, are dangerous to health. Not only that, the interaction between EPA and GLA also seems useful against attention deficit and behavioral disorders typical of ADHD.

Omegor® Mind: a formula proven by the benefits of science

In short, the research seems to point clearly toward one conclusion: with the right foods and supplements, we can provide children's brains with substances that help them perform at their best during a stage of life as challenging as school age.

To support it in the best possible way, Omegor has brought these substances together within a single product: Omegor® Mind. Through the synergy of B vitamins, zinc, BacoMind®, EPA, DHA, and GLA, this supplement aims precisely to support cognitive function during the learning age.

You can find out all its features by clicking on this link.

Bibliographic references: 

European Commission. Food and Feed Information Portal Database. Last viewed: 15/04/25

D'Helft J, Caccialanza R, Derbyshire E, Maes M. Relevance of ω-6 GLA Added to ω-3 PUFAs Supplements for ADHD: A Narrative Review. Nutrients. 2022 Aug 10;14(16):3273. doi: 10.3390/nu14163273

Kean JD, Downey LA, Stough C. A systematic review of the Ayurvedic medicinal herb Bacopa monnieri in child and adolescent populations. Complement Ther Med. 2016 Dec;29:56-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2016.09.002

Mitra-Ganguli T, Kalita S, Bhushan S, Stough C, Kean J, Wang N, Sethi V, Khadilkar A. A Randomized, Double-Blind Study Assessing Changes in Cognitive Function in Indian School Children Receiving a Combination of Bacopa monnieri and Micronutrient Supplementation vs. Placebo. Front Pharmacol. 2017 Nov 17;8:678. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00678

Pei-Chen Chang J. Personalized medicine in child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Focus on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and ADHD. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2021 Jul 29;16:100310. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100310

Science Alert. Gamma Linolenic Acid. Last viewed: 17/04/25

Sittiprapaporn P, Bumrungpert A, Suyajai P, Stough C. Effectiveness of Fish Oil-DHA Supplementation for Cognitive Function in Thai Children: A Randomized, Doubled-Blind, Two-Dose, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Foods. 2022 Aug 26;11(17):2595. doi: 10.3390/foods11172595

Usha, P.D. & Wasim, P. & Joshua, J.A. & Geetharani, P. & Balasubramianan, Murali & Mayachari, Anand & Venkateshwarlu, K. & Saxena, V.S. & Mundkinajeddu, Deepak & Agarwal, Amit. (2008). BacoMind®: A Cognitive Enhancer in Children Requiring Individual Education Program. Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology. 3. 302-310. doi: 10.3923/jpt.2008.302.310.