Eating seafood can halve the risk of children developing type-1 diabetes, according to new research.

An international study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says a diet rich in Omega-3 oils, found most abundantly in fish and other seafood, can cut the chances of at-risk children actually developing type-1 diabetes by 55%.

The result is significant for children in Australia, where the rate of new cases is high compared with many other countries.

"This is the first study to show this type of association with childhood diet," said Dr Jill Norris, an epidemiologist at the University of Colorado and lead author of the report. "It provides exciting evidence that it may be feasible to have a nutritional intervention against the disease."

In Australia Roy Palmer, who has been co-ordinating the monitoring and distribution of information on health benefits of seafood on behalf of Seafood Services Australia for several years, said today it was an important discovery.

“Because type I diabetes is often inherited, researchers looked at high-risk kids — those who had a high-risk genotype or had a diabetic parent or sibling. They found that children who ate fish, nuts or other Omega-3 fatty acid sources were 55% less likely to become diabetic.”

He said that the federal government found that about 6100 Australian children under the age of 15 developed type-1 diabetes over a seven-year period, with the rate of new cases increasing significantly between 200 and 2005 from 19 up to 23 per 100,000 children.

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