Sleep apnea in children can reduce their growth and even lead to development and learning problems, a pediatrician said yesterday, urging parents to keep an eye out for the disorder’s common symptoms.
A boy had grown less than 2cm in one semester when he was in the second grade of elementary school, so his parents were worried that he might be suffering from some type of growth disorder and took him to a doctor for examinations.
The pediatrician who treated the boy, Reshining Clinic deputy superintendent Pan Chun-shen (潘俊伸), said the boy had a history of allergic rhinitis and tonsil hypertrophy problems, and often slept early, but would snore and wake up easily, and sometimes wet the bed.
Pan diagnosed the boy with sleep apnea — a disorder in which a person’s breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep — and the development of his bones was about two years behind normal.
“Children’s sleeping quality significantly affects their growth and development,” he said. “Many parents send their children to bed early, but if the sleep quality is poor, or if they have disorders such as sleep apnea, that can cause endocrinous disorders or growth hormone deficiency, and even affect their height.”
Pan said children with sleep apnea experience repeated pauses in breathing, causing blood oxygen levels to drop and making them very light sleepers, and that the main symptom in children under five years old is snoring, while older children might display inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, nocturia (excessive urination at night) and growth retardation.
Studies show that about 10 to 30 percent of pre-school children regularly snore during sleep and about 1 to 3 percent have from sleep apnea, he said, adding that about 40 percent of elementary-school students who receive the bottom 10 percent of grades have sleeping disorders.
Pan urged parents who want their children to grow normally to make sure their kids get good quality sleep, balanced nutrition and sufficient exercise, and to take them to see a doctor if they detect symptoms of sleeping disorders.
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