MILLIONS of under-achieving children across the world stand to benefit from ground-breaking research carried out in the North-East.

The world's biggest trial of food supplements suggests that simple food supplements can radically boost brain power. It could lead to a revolution in the way children who are under-performing at school are dealt with by the authorities.

Researchers say they saw remarkable improvements after children were given the brain-boosting pills.

Almost 40 per cent of youngsters showed better reading ability and increased attention spans.

The trial involved giving six capsules a day of a supplement containing a special blend of fish oil and evening primrose oil to 123 County Durham junior schoolchildren. Some of the youngsters were given the "Eye.q" capsules from the start while others received blanks, or placebos.

Parents and teachers noticed improvements in the behaviour of many youngsters taking the real capsules within weeks.

Many more youngsters experienced the same changes when they were switched to the food supplements in the second half of the trial.

County Durham educational psychologist Dr Madelaine Portwood, who organised the research, said: "Up to 40 per cent of children on the trial showed dramatic improvements. We are talking about reading age gains of between 18 months and four years and attention gains of as much as 400 per cent."

Dr Portwood said she believed the capsules could help "more than a third of children in mainstream schools."

Last year, The Northern Echo reported exclusively that the trial was very promising.

Many of the 123 County Durham junior schoolchildren who took part saw "dramatic" improvements in reading, writing, concentration and behaviour.