The investigation focused on kids' breathing patterns during sleep

Mar 5, 2012 09:57 GMT  ·  By
Parents and pediatricians should pay attention to how children breathe during their sleep
   Parents and pediatricians should pay attention to how children breathe during their sleep

Scientists advise that parents should pay attention to the way their children breathe during sleep. Abnormal patterns could be indicative of sleep disorders that increase the little ones' chances of developing behavioral difficulties later on in life.

This conclusion belongs to a survey conducted over a period of 6 years, on more than 11,000 children. Investigators at the Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that kids displaying abnormal breathing patterns during sleep were more likely to develop a number of conditions.

The latter included experiencing difficulties in their relationships with their peers, showing more fragile emotional states, displaying hyperactivity (such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and increased aggressiveness.

While sleep disturbances will not necessarily cause these conditions directly, they considerably increase a kid's chances of developing them later on in life. The team is certain of this due to the long timeframe of the study.

Details of the investigation appear in the March 5 online issue of the medical journal Pediatrics. The work was led by AECM professor of family and social medicine, of obstetrics & gynecology, and of women's health, Karen Bonuck, PhD.

“This is the strongest evidence to date that snoring, mouth breathing, and apnea [abnormally long pauses in breathing during sleep] can have serious behavioral and social-emotional consequences for children,” the expert reveals, quoted by EurekAlert.

“Parents and pediatricians alike should be paying closer attention to sleep-disordered breathing in young children, perhaps as early as the first year of life,” she adds. Bonuck explains that sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a general term that refers to numerous conditions related to breathing difficulties.

Sleep apnea and snoring are usually the two most common manifestations of such disorders. Official statistics from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Health and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) show that 10 percent of kids snore on a regular basis, while 2 to 4 percent display sleep apnea.

“We found that children with sleep-disordered breathing were from 40 to 100 percent more likely to develop neurobehavioral problems by age 7, compared with children without breathing problems. The biggest increase was in hyperactivity, but we saw significant increases across all five behavioral measures,” Bonuck concludes.

Funds for this investigation were secured from the US National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).