More and more children are overweight, obese, and consequently at risk of a number of conditions including heart disease, asthma, sleep apnea, and diabetes. This trend has been noticed for a while, and has started to be reflected in the worrying number of surgeries which are being performed on young children to help correct these conditions. I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t be dismayed at the thought of this.
What’s it got to do with Snoring, I hear you ask? Well, with this increase in obesity comes an increase in the likelihood of sleep apnea, or other snoring conditions. The figure quoted in sleep research is a 30% incidence rate of sleep apnea in obese or overweight children, with all the attendent knock-on risks that this can have. Let’s remind ourselves that Sleep Apnea is a condition which prevents you from breathing properly. This really ain’t a good thing, especially at such a young age.
If you’re a parent, you should be keeping an eye on your child’s health. Snoring may well be a sign of something else.
There is some good news, if you think a child you know is a sufferer; there are studies into Sleep Apnea surgery in the young being undertaken by researchers funded by America’s National Institutes of Health. These studies should tell us if surgery is beneficial to children in these cases, as compared to simpler treatments like nasal sprays. They’re also looking to see if there are any links with other childhood issues like ADHD, learning difficulties, and pre-diabetes.
More research is always a good thing, even if we don’t like the findings. Think of it as a wake-up call- you can’t afford to ignore chronic snoring.
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