How to Get Kids to Take Fish Oil Omega 6

Omega-3s, often obtained from fish oil, help enhance mood and reduce risks of several cancers and heart disease. Children can also benefit from adding fish oil to their diet. In a 2007 press release, Dr. Barry Sears, creator of the Zone diet, agreed that fish oil can even protect children from developing asthma and allergies.

Additionally, fish oil has garnered the most attention from the role it plays in helping children with learning and attention disorders such as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Fish oils improve concentration and help with brain function. A study published in the Nutrition Journal suggests that children with ADHD benefit from supplementation of fish oils. The study showed that children consuming eight to 16 grams per day of fish oil achieved obvious improvements in their behavior as determined by both their parents and psychiatrists who worked with them.

While fish oil is good for your child, fish oil doesn't always taste so good. You may have to experiment with ways to get your child to take the fish oil.

Things You'll Need

• Fish oil capsule
• Pin
• Scissors
• Water
• Medicine syringe
• Food
• Drink
• Flavored fish oil supplements

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Instructions

• 1

  Explain the benefits of fish oil to your child in a way he understands. Focus on how the fish oil makes our body healthy and keeps us from getting sick. An understanding of why the child should take the fish oil may reassure and encourage him.

• 2

  Encourage the child to try swallowing the capsule whole. Instruct him to place the capsule at the back of his throat, take a drink of water and swallow it.

• 3

  Open a capsule of fish oil by poking it with a pin or cutting it open with scissors. Squeeze the fish oil onto a spoon and ask your child to swallow it.

• 4

  Place the fish oil from the capsule into a medicine syringe. Ask your child to open his mouth and allow you to release the fish oil into the back of his mouth.

• 5

  Disguise the fish oil in a food or drink. Prepare smoothies with yogurt, fruit and orange juice and add the fish oil before serving. Mix the fish oil into foods you are already serving such as salad dressing, apple sauce or pudding.

• 6

  Give your child a flavored alternative to plain fish oil, available through your local health store or online retailers. A flavored fish oil chewable is often available. Pudding-like fish oil that comes in a packet so the child can squeeze the contents directly into his mouth and fish oil gummies are also available, as are chocolate omega truffles.