Pregnancy tips Snoring Is Dangerous--Even For Children

We usually hear about the health dangers of snoring in adults who may actually stop breathing for short intervals while they sleep. However, children can snore too and there could be long-term consequences. Here is an article that associates snoring in children with their intelligence:

Childhood Snoring Can Impact Intelligence(www.aphroditewomenshealth.com)

From the article:

"Researchers at the University of Virginia (UV) Health System say that children with sleep disorders face risks of intellectual impairment. Working with children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids, the researchers discovered that youngsters who snore nightly scored significantly lower on vocabulary tests than those who snore less often. "Vocabulary scores are known to be the best single predictor of a child's IQ and the strongest predictor of academic success," said UV's Paul M. Suratt.

Worryingly, Suratt says that the vocabulary differences associated with nightly snoring are equivalent to the IQ dissimilarities attributed to lead exposure. "Studies show that, even at nontoxic levels, lead exposure can reduce a child's IQ by more than seven points. We've also found that obstructive sleep disordered breathing occurs more often in African American children and, therefore, places them at greater risk of cognitive impairment," he noted.

Sleep disorders can be intellectually and behaviorally detrimental to children because they interrupt the deep sleep patterns needed for healthy development. At night, children with sleep disorders can be observed snoring, snorting, gasping, tossing and turning. During the day, these children can be irritable, hyperactive and unable to concentrate."