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Sleep apnea and obesity among children

Written by: David Castillo on February 1st, 2010

Sleep apnea and obesity among children | read this item

When a person has obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), he/she stops breathing multiple times during sleep. The condition is often accompanied by heavy snoring. While the condition is most common among adults, children too are in danger of getting the condition.

Obesity is strongly linked to OSA in adults, but this relationship has not been established for kids. Dr. A. M. Li, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is leading a team of researchers conducted a study to examine how obesity affects children with OSA.

The study followed 56 children with mild OSA for two years. The researchers were able to assess 45 children and 13 of the original group developed worse OSA.

The children who developed worse OSA also had greater increases in their weight size compared to the children whose conditions did not worsen.

Also, the 13 children developed larger tonsils. They also developed worse snoring and the boys were more prone than boys.

The researchers also said that children with mild OSA and large tonsils should be closely followed, especially the boys. They also said weight control is a big factor in managing mild OSA among children.

The study is a big step to exploring OSA among children.

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