Snoring, Behavioral Problems in Children Linked

The children, who suffer from pauses in breathing during sleep, breathe through the mouth or snore, are more likely to have behavioral problems.

These are the results of the new study, which was conducted in England. The researchers analyzed the questionnaires of 11,000 children. First of all, the data about the quality of sleep were collected when the children were 6, 18, 30, 42, 57, and 69 months old, and then the parents were asked to answer some questions about the behavioral factors of their children (at the age of 4 and 7 years).

According to the statistics collected, 45% of the children had no problems with the quality of sleep. 55% of the children demonstrated all the three signs of breathing problems.

After the exclusion of other factors influencing social adjustment, the researchers found that the likelihood of behavioral problems in children with sleep disorders ranged from 40% to 100%. The more the symptoms of respiratory failure manifested themselves, the higher was the risk of such problems as hyperactivity, aggression, unwillingness to follow the rules, anxiety, depression, and difficulties with socialization among peers.

The researchers recommend that more attention should be paid to children’s nighttime recreation, providing all the factors of healthy sleep (mode, ventilation, quiet games). It is extremely important since breathing problems can affect the child’s behavior and disrupt the balance in various body systems in the long term.