Snoring more prevalent in obese kids, say experts

Researchers from Italy have found that children who are obese also have an increased tendency to snore more, as compared to their slim counterparts.

The researchers also stated that obese children are more prone to developing various other health problems like sleep apnea.

Study details
The research team studied sleeping behaviours of 809 children. They categorized the kids into five groups--snoring, non-snoring, obese, overweight and normal-weight children.

For the study, researchers evaluated sleeping habits of 44 children with consistent snoring, 138 children snoring occasionally and other group of 627 children who did not snore at all.

They also reported that out of the total number of kids being evaluated for sleeping and snoring habits, 64 were obese, 121 were overweight, and 624 kids had normal weight.

The objective behind the study was to determine the sleeping behaviours and snoring habits of all categories of kids to come to valid results and find solutions to the problem.

Study findings
On analyzing the results of all the kids, researchers found that snoring prevalence in obese kids was 12.5 percent.

They also found that this percentage was over two-fold as compared to overweight children, who had 5.8 percent snoring incidences.

At the same time, researchers revealed that snoring occurrences in obese kids were a whopping three times more than in children with normal weight (4.6 percent).

Besides, researchers also revealed that health problems like sleep apnea and breathing-related sleep disorder that are more commonly known to be present in adults were found in obese kids too.

However, any such disorders did not occur in overweight or normal weight children, stated researchers.

The study appears in the journal Chest.

Guidelines to maintain healthy weight in children
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), maintaining a balance in kids’ calorie-intake and the amount of calories burnt through physical activity is an essential job of parents.

Eating nutritional foods with adequate amount of calories is suggested by experts.

Also, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains should form a part of essential diet plan, state experts.

Including low-fat dairy products in diet and limiting consumption of sugary foods and drinks is also beneficial.

It is also essential to have reasonably-sized portions and drink lots of water, enlighten CDC experts.