Habitual snoring common in kids

	Tweet

Snoring “frequently or always” is common among school-age children, new findings show.

Moreover, habitual snoring is strongly associated with emotional and behavioral problems and poor performance in school. However, these problems often cease when the child stops snoring, investigators report in the medical journal Pediatrics.

In a study of 1129 children, 114 were classified as habitual snorers, while 410 were reported to snore “never,” and 605 “occasionally.”

According to Dr. Michael S. Urschitz from University Children’s Hospital in Tuebingen, Germany and colleagues, habitual snorers were twice as likely to exhibit hyperactive behavior as non-snorers, 7-times likelier to be excessively tired during the day, and nearly 10-times likelier to have problems with their peers.

Habitual snoring also appeared to have an adverse effect on academic performance. Fifty-nine (52 percent) of 114 habitual snorers performed poorly at school compared with 129 (32 percent) of the 410 non-snoring children.

In a 1-year follow up study of a subset of the children, the team noted a “significant improvement” in behavior—but not academic performance—among snoring children who had spontaneously stopped snoring.

“Considering its high prevalence and assuming a causal link to disturbed behavior, habitual snoring seems to be a substantial public health problem in school-aged children,” Urschitz and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, October 2004.

RELATED STORIES:
No increase in severe cardiovascular events for children, adolescents taking ADHD medications   Childhood Arthritis: Common but Preventable Consequence of Lyme Disease   New Service Helps Women at Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death   Evaluation of a child with cerebral palsy   Injured children may not be getting best possible care   Living with a smoker hard on tiny infants   Experts recommend universal screening of newborns for congenital adrenal hyperplasia   Children in Chronic Pain Need Better Support   New technique saves babies with immune disorder   New study suggests most preschool-age children exceed daily screen time recommendations   Maternal Intimate Partner Violence Linked to Childhood Obesity   100 Percent Juice Fills the Bill for Healthy School Lunches

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]