Snoring babies more likely to develop behavioral problems

Toddlers who snore are more likely to develop behavioral problems, according to a new study in the United States published in the Monday issue of Pediatrics. Sleep-disordered breathing includes snoring, mouth breathing, and sleep apnea. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx, New York City, examined the impact of "sleep-disordered breathing" on kids' behavior by looking at survey results from parents of more than 11,000 children from 6 months to 7 years old over a six-year-period. The researchers found children whose sleep-disordered breathing peaked at 6 or 18 months old were between 40 and 100 percent more likely to develop behavioral problems by age 7. Common causes of sleep-disorder breathing are enlarged tonsils or adenoids. What does snoring have to do with bad behavior? The researchers think these breathing troubles are affecting oxygen flow to the brain and disrupting the restorative processes of sleep, which results in problems related to areas of the brain.