MACKEREL, sardines and salmon might not be as tempting to your average six-year-old as sweets, chocolate and biscuits.

That's not stopping one Hampshire school from finding out whether fish oils can boost children's brainpower and concentration.

Freegrounds Infant School in Hedge End is taking part in a national classroom concentration study to see whether pupils who take a daily dose of Omega 3 fish oil will improve their behaviour in the classroom and at home.

Amazingly, none of the 25 children, aged six and seven, taking part in the study need to eat a single mouthful of fish.

All they have to do is drink a glass of orange syrup made by Haliborange containing the fish oil every day for six weeks.

Head teacher Angela Featherstone sent out letters to all parents of the school's 90 Year 2 pupils after one of them saw an appeal for schools to take part published in the Daily Echo.

"I have heard a lot about fish oils and decided to give parents the opportunity to take part if they wanted to," she said

"The school is acting as a link between the parents and the study."

Before the study began parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire saying whether they agreed strongly or not with 84 statements about their child such as "attention wanders easily".

At the end of the experiment they will have to fill in the same survey, known as the Conner's Rating Scale, to find out whether there has been any change in their child's behaviour.

A teacher will fill in a similar assessment before all the results are sent to The Dyscovery Centre in Cardiff and independently assessed by psychologists specialising in children's behaviour problems such Dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Study spokeswoman Louise Rowlands said: "We carried out a pilot study with two schools last year where children took a daily dose of Haliborange DHA Concentration Syrup and reported nearly a 40 per cent improvement in children's attention spans and concentration levels."

Nationwide 30 schools are taking part in the study designed to see whether there is a need for a fish oil supplement in children's diets.

The results will be announced in November.

FACTFILE:

Omega 3 fats are found naturally in oily fish such as mackerel, salmon and sardines.

They belong to a family of fats known as essential fatty acids.

They are known to help prevent heart disease and can improve the condition of some patients with depression.

Brain cell membranes consist almost entirely of fats of which 20 per cent are fatty acids like Omega 3.