Grades Slipping? Check for Snoring
Children who snore a lot are more likely to struggle with their schoolwork.
Disappointed with your performance on the last spelling test? Stop snoring!
Kids who always snore when they sleep are four times more likely to get bad grades in school than are students who never snore, according to a new study.
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Frequent snoring can lead to poor schoolwork.
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A group of German scientists asked the parents of 1,129 third-graders whether their children snored always, frequently, occasionally, or never. The researchers also collected information about how well the students did in school.
Frequent and constant snorers did worse in math, science, and spelling than did occasional snorers and non-snorers, the data showed.
The researchers also tested whether the snorers might have a sleep disorder called intermittent hypoxia. Caused by low levels of oxygen in the blood, this disorder is fairly common. People who have it often snore. Still, kids who had the disorder didn’t get worse grades than did kids without it, the second study showed.
Snoring might just keep kids from sleeping well, the researchers think. Being tired would make it hard to pay attention and perform well in school. So, make sure to tell your doctor if you snore a lot. If the problem is extreme, surgery to remove the tonsils sometimes helps.
Whatever you do, don’t start snoring while you’re at school. Then, you’ll really be in trouble!—E. Sohn
Going Deeper:
Seppa, Nathan. 2003. Grades slipping? Check for snoring. Science News 164(Sept. 13):173-174. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/20030913/note13.asp .
You can learn more about snoring at http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/teeth/snoring.html (KidsHealth for Kids).
