Kids who snore tend to score low grades at school, find researchers
Researchers have found that snoring can adversely affect children's thinking abilities.

New York: Is your child performing poorly at school? If yes, please check if he or she is sleeping well because researchers have found that snoring can adversely affect children's thinking abilities.

While periodic snoring is usual in children, persistent snoring can lead to a disorder called sleep apnea that affects the quality of sleep. Representational image. Getty images
While periodic snoring is usual in children, persistent snoring can lead to a disorder called sleep apnea that affects the quality of sleep, which in turn, can be linked with concentration and learning difficulties, the findings suggest.
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
The most common reason for snoring are enlarged tonsils or adenoids, that can often be cured or reduced with surgery, the researchers said.
In the study, a total of 1,359 school children, comprising snorers and non-snorers aged five to seven years, were assigned to one of four groups based on severity of sleep apnea.
They completed sleep assessment questionnaires, an overnight sleep study, and measures of several cognitive functions including language and executive development.
After comparing measures of cognitive functioning across the four groups, the researchers found that even snoring alone has a negative effect on children's thinking abilities.
"Our findings provide further justification for exploration and development of simple cognitive batteries that can be coupled to the current clinical evaluation of children with habitual snoring such as to better guide the management of the decision-making process," said Leila Gozal from University of Chicago in the US.
The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society's ATS 2016 international conference in San Francisco.
also read

COVID-19: Over 3 crore children between 12-14 years administered first vaccine dose
The vaccination for children between the 12-14 age group started on 16 March with Biological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax, which is administered to the beneficiaries in an interval of 28 days

Monkeypox: Remain vigilant, send sick passengers' samples from affected nations to virology institute, Centre tells officials
According to the WHO, Monkeypox typically manifests in humans with fever, rashes and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications

India reports 2,827 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hrs; active infections dip to 19,067
The coronavirus death toll climbed to 5,24,181 with 24 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated