Food for the Brain, a non-profit campaign founded by psychologist and leading nutritionist Patrick Holford, has launched a major new education initiative, aimed at improving children's school performance and behaviour by addressing all those areas at the same time. This pilot study will create a template that can be applied to schools throughout the UK, to ensure children are operating at their Optimum Nutrition level. Read more about the Campaign here. Patrick recommends: If you want to maximise your child's potential you need to feed them the best brain food. Here is an easy to follow 5-point plan to help you balance your child's mood and improve their concentration, both at school and at play. 1. Take your child off foods with additives or added sugar 2. Increase fruit, veg and foods rich in vitamins and minerals 3. Boost levels of essential fats 4. Supplement the diet 5. Eliminate allergens from the diet 1. Take your child off foods with additives or added sugar Sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cake, some breakfast cereals, puddings and soft drinks all contain sugar in one form or another. This sugar creates an imbalance in energy which can contribute to hyperactivity, mood changes and erratic behaviour. When checking labels, avoid foods that contain sucrose, glucose, dextrose, honey, and any form of syrup. Also check for additives - such as artificial colourings, sweeteners, preservatives and flavourings. Look out especially for orange colouring tartrazine (E102) which can be found in orange squash and sweets. Also watch out for mono-sodium glutamate (MSG) and caffeine. It's desirable to opt for natural, sugar-free alternatives rather than processed foods. 2. Increase fruit, veg and foods rich in vitamins and minerals Most of the nutrients have been stripped out of white bread, white rice and pasta, so opt for wholemeal varieties instead. These are more filling and contain fibre to encourage healthy digestion. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain vitamins and minerals which are essential for building a strong healthy body. Some children may be reluctant to swap the sweets for a piece of fruit, but if you hold firm, often their sweet tooth will get less. Aim to make fresh food more exciting - tempt them with bite-size snacks of cherry tomatoes, berries or grapes. There are now lots of recipe books aimed at healthy eating, with children in mind. For children who are used to a diet of processed food such as chicken nuggets or fish fingers, it may help to make home-made equivalents to begin with, such as strips of chicken and healthy fish cakes, and then gradually add more vegetables into the mix - for example fish cakes with broccoli. That way their taste buds gradually adjust to natural vegetable flavours. You'll find lots of healthy packed lunch ideas in our Jamie Oliver newsletter 3. Boost levels of essential fats Some fats need to be avoided, whilst others almost always need to be increased. For example, the saturated fats found in processed meats and fried foods should be avoided. On the other hand, most children and adults too are deficient in the 'essential' fats called omega 3, and good quality omega 6. To get these healthy fats, eat fish such as fresh salmon and mackerel two or three times per week, and used a heaped tablespoon of freshly ground seeds on their cereal or sprinkled on soups or in salads every day. Patrick Holford suggests the magic formula of seed mix is half pumpkin, sunflower and sesame, with half linseeds: store in a glass jar in the fridge and grind fresh in a coffee grinder before serving (keep in the fridge as the oils in seeds can go rancid quite quickly). (TIP: we recommend Linuset Gold linseeds, available in most supermarkets.) Also, supplement essential fats. This could either be a fish oil (which contains omega 3 fats) or a seed oil (which contains a blend of omega 3 and omega 6 fats). Nutri Eskimo Kids or Nutri-West Omega 3 Essentials are our favoured products here. 4. Supplement the diet It's hard to get all the nutrients we need from our diet, and Patrick suggests that children's diets are supplemented with a good-quality multivitamin and mineral. Small children who cannot swallow may like Dinochews. | 
