Even snoring may be genetic

Nicholas Bakalar:

Children who snore are almost three times as likely as others to have parents who snore. And snoring and sleep-disordered breathing are twice as common in children who test positive for allergies.

Sleep-disordered breathing — snoring is one symptom of it — is associated with poor school performance, cardiovascular troubles and daytime behavioral problems like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Researchers studied 1-year-old children participating in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study. Among the 681 children, 105 were habitual snorers — that is, they snored more than three nights a week. The children were also examined for allergies to various foods and other substances using a skin-prick test.

Having a positive allergy test almost doubled the risk for snoring, and having one parent who snored almost tripled the risk. Being African-American more than tripled the risk that a child would be a habitual snorer. The results were published yesterday in the journal Chest.

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