Hi!

I was wondering how you all address the issue of getting enough Omega 3's in your kids' diets.  I've just been reading up on the importance of Omega 3's for kids and the symptoms of deficiencies and am pretty sure that my 7 year-old son falls into that category.  We are dealing with a lot of learning delays and lately some issues with anxiety.   What really made the light bulb go off was when I read that breast milk is the perfect ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6's.  My son (mama's boy that he is) nursed until he was almost 4 (yes 4).  I had just been telling my husband that in thinking back I feel like he has actually regressed in a lot of ways, which would be from around the time he stopped nursing. 

So from what I'm reading fish oils are the best source of Omega 3's because they contain the DHA component of the fatty acid.  I know that flax oils are also good but inferior to fish oil (don't contain DHA?) from what I can see and I've never seen a kids' flax oil supplement nor do I feel like I could get enough of it in his diet w/out a supplement.  At this point I feel that the benefits greatly out way the negatives in getting him on fish oil supplements but I was hoping for any feedback, experiences, ideas on the issue in the meantime.

Thanks!

Flax contains ALA which in converted into DHA and EPA in the body whereas fish oil contains the DHA in pure form.  We don't don't how well ALA is converted, but we do know there are still benefits of taking flax.  There are not flax oil supplement for children as they are universal. You can also take green algae supplements which contain DHA (this is what fish feed off of to get their DHA!).  I buy my algae from DEVA nutrition.   Try adding freshly ground flax seed to everything (cereal, smoothies, pancakes, etc...) and drizzling flax oil over veggies, pasta (my little girl loves pasta with flax oil and nutritional yeast), and so on...just don't heat the oil.  Good luck.  --Sara, R.D.