Obese Kids May Have
Breathing Problems During Sleep
Mon
Dec 22, 2003
By
Alison McCook NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity is associated with numerous ills, even in
children, and new research suggests excess pounds may also prevent kids from
getting a good night's sleep. According
to investigators at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, up to one third of
obese children appear to have trouble breathing at some point during sleep,
compared with only 5 percent of normal weight children. Having
enlarged tonsils also appears to put sleeping children at risk of breathing
problems. Study
author Dr. Y.K. Wing told Reuters Health that kids' excess weight may lead to
breathing problems by causing the airways to narrow or become congested during
sleep. Wing
added that treatments for sleep-related breathing problems, also known as sleep
apnea, include surgery to remove enlarged tissues in the back of the throat,
weight loss if a child is obese, or the use of a specialized machine that keeps
children breathing normally while asleep. Sleep
apnea describes a condition in which sleepers experience a temporary collapse of
their upper airway. In addition to snoring, other symptoms of sleep apnea
include snorts or gasps as breathing temporarily stops and restarts. The
condition has been linked to poor concentration and attention problems. Although
obesity is a common feature in adults with sleep apnea, previous research into
the role obesity plays in young sleep apnea sufferers has shown mixed results,
with some studies suggesting obese kids breathe just as easily during sleep as
normal weight children. In
the current study, Wing and colleagues observed 90 children during sleep, noting
their weight and who among them experienced breathing problems. Around one-half
of the children were obese. The
authors found that obese children appeared to be 20 percent more likely to show
signs of sleep apnea than normal weight kids. Children with abnormally large
tonsils appeared to increase the risk of sleep-related breathing troubles almost
13-fold, the authors write in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. These
findings suggest that obese children with enlarged tissues in the back of their
throats should be "aggressively managed," Wing and colleagues note. The
authors add that "the overall results suggest a modest argument" in
favor of screening kids for sleep apnea solely on the basis of obesity. Obese
children with obviously enlarged tissues in the back of the throat have a high
risk of sleep-related breathing problems, Wing and colleagues conclude. SOURCE:
Archives of Disease in Childhood, December 2003. |