The hum of the child: a common problem and significant

Frequent or systematic snoring affect many children appear to be associated with emotional and behavioral disorders, as well as lower educational performance, suggest the results of an Austro-German study published the "Pediatrics" magazine.

However, these problems usually seem to disappear when the child no longer snores, Michael Urschitz point, the neonatal unit of the University Hospital of Tuebingen (Germany), and colleagues.

In reaching this conclusion, the researchers followed more than 1,000 school children, the frequency of snoring was determined through a questionnaire sent to parents 410 and 605 never snored occasionally. The 114 snoring frequently or consistently have been described as "habitual snorers."

Statistical analysis of various data collected during the study found that being a "habitual snorer" doubles the risk that the child has a hyperactive behavior and quadruple the risk of being inattentive.

Snorers children are also more frequently prone to fatigue and daytime than those who do not snore, or only rarely drowsiness. They occur more often emotional or behavioral problems, as they have almost ten times more relationship problems with their peers.

Frequent snoring children also seem related to less satisfactory academic performance. Thus, in this study, more than half (51.8%) of "habitual snorers" got poor school performance against less than a third (31.5%) of the 410 "non-snorers."

After a year of monitoring, the researchers noted however that a "significant improvement" in behavior-but not school-performance of "habitual snorers" which had meanwhile spontaneously stopped snoring.

In view of these results, it seems that the fact snoring frequently or always represents a significant public health problem among school children, the authors conclude.