Omega 3s are going to gaol

Can omega 3s reduce criminality? A new study aims to investigate this link between biology and behaviour.

Professor Brin Grenyer and Associate Professor Barbara Meyer from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute looked at the benefits of fish oil supplements in people diagnosed with major depression. In the first study in 2007, the results showed that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (fish oil) had no additional benefits (in comparison to olive oil). However, these results were skewed because faced with a cohort of people with major depression, the team was ethically obliged to offer both the active and placebo groups psychological counselling.

Further investigation of the results showed that while the mean changes in scores of depression did not differ significantly between the two groups, when covariance was taken into account, the group taking fish oil showed an improvement in erythrocyte DHA.

Meyer is now seeking to conduct a placebo-controlled pilot feasibility study with inmates of a South Coast correctional centre, who will be given fish oil and multivitamins and minerals.

It is hoped the study will establish if omega 3 supplementation can reduce criminality. In 2002, Dr Bernard Gesch (University of Oxford and Food and Behaviour Research) established that antisocial behaviour in prisons, including violence, was reduced by vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids with similar implications for those eating poor diets in the community.

Meyer’s study will be the first to use blood tests along with psychological questionnaires on aggression and inattention. The results will be used in a grant application which, she hopes, will lead into a larger study in multiple sites around Australia.