A NORTH-EAST study has shown that taking food supplements can dramatically improve the behaviour of young children.

Details of the Peterlee trial, which involved giving babies and toddlers daily doses of high-quality fish and evening primrose oil, were announced in London yesterday.

Sixty-five youngsters at a Sure Start scheme in Peterlee, County Durham, showed significant advances in concentration, behaviour and parental bonding, according to the study.

Before taking supplements, 47 per cent of children were rated as having poor or very poor behaviour.

This fell to only four per cent at the end.

Sixty-six per cent of children at the start of the trial had poor or very poor concentration, compared to 79 per cent having good or very good levels of concentration after the trial.

Researchers concluded that the group who took the oil, whose language ability was below the level expected for their age, almost caught up to where they should be.

Dr Madelaine Portwood, the County Durham educational psychologist who was lead researcher in the trial, hopes the Government will look seriously at adopting food supplements as a way of improving education in deprived parts of the UK.

She said: "The improvements in behaviour and concentration in the children have facilitated a much stronger bond between the parent and the child, and we think this has been largely responsible for the development of language and communication skills."