Oils for clumsy child syndrome

by MARION MCKAY, Daily Mail

Astonishing research has revealed that the debilitating condition dyspraxia - also known as clumsy child syndrome - could be conquered by something as simple as a daily dose of cod liver oil or evening primrose oil.

Dyspraxia, the cause of which is unknown, affects about 10 per cent of the population and is as common in adults as it is in children. The brain's ability to transmit nerve impulses to the motor system is impaired so sufferers are unable to co-ordinate their movements. This problem can lead to other problems with language, perception and thought.

The effects of dyspraxia can be far-reaching -from being unable to tie a shoelace or play games, to learning difficulties and the misery of suffering ridicule from classmates.

Early signs of dyspraxia include delay in a baby's ability to roll, sit, crawl and stand. In the second and third year, problems with perception arise, such as difficulty fitting shapes into boxes or snapping Lego together.

Other signs include an inability to judge distance, and muddled speech. Now hope may lie in research which suggests that cod liver oil or evening primrose oil can, at least, improve the condition of dyspraxic children.

Senior educational psychologist Dr Madeleine Portwood has found that supplementing essential fatty acid intake markedly improved balance, co-ordination and speech of some children with dyspraxia.

In her study of more than 600 dyspraxic children aged between four and 16, Dr Portwood discovered that, from birth, 20 per cent did not have the normal developmental pattern. And 70 per cent of this group had significant feeding difficulties at birth.

She says: 'This made me look into the metabolic basis of dyspraxia, and I found that if I gave these children supplements of cod liver oil or evening primrose oil containing essential fatty acids, their condition could be improved within days.' Essential fatty acids increase the capability of neurotransmitters - chemicals released by nerve endings in the brain - which improves the brain's ability to process and transmit information.

Research published in the journal Developmental Medicine And Child Neurology shows that babies fed on a formula milk fortified with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) - essential fatty acids found in breast milk - develop quicker intellectually than those fed on ordinary formula.

As well as giving supplements, Dr Portwood believes that much can be done by developing children's motor skills early.

'Often children with dyspraxia miss out on crawling or are late to walk. If they don't progress through these patterns, important pathways in their brains are either not properly established or are not reinforced. Developing these skills has a positive effect on children's cognitive development.'

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