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| Main > Symptom Guide > Snoring
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Snoring
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Snoring is a common symptom, occuring in about 3-12% of children. Risk factors for snoring include being overweight, having allergies or other causes of nasal obstruction, having enlarged adenoids and/or tonsils, and exposure to second hand smoke. Treatment for these underlying conditions, when found, should help your child snore less often and sleep better.
Since sleep problems can lead to attentional problems and daytime sleepiness, which can affect your child's performance at school, if you suspect your child is having sleep problems, a thorough evaluation would be a good idea.
- obstructive sleep apnea: Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) snore loudly AND they have shorts periods of time during sleep that they actually stop breathing (apnea). Because sleep is interrupted, children with OSA are usually sleepy during the day, may complain of frequent headaches and sometimes have difficulty in school.
- nasal obstruction: commonly caused by allergies, but can also be caused by having a deviated septum. A cold or upper respiratory tract infection is another common cause of nasal congestion/obstruction, and this is a reason why many children snore only when they have a cold.
- adenoid/tonsillar hypertrophy: enlarged adenoids and/or tonsils can cause snoring in some children.
- obesity: being overweight is a well known risk factor for snoring
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