Researchers find connection between children's snoring and behavioral problems

A new study shows kids who snore or who have other sleep-related breathing problems are more likely to have behavioral problems years later.

Researchers surveyed the parents of more than 11,000 children about sleep-disordered breathing.

Parents were asked to track their child's snoring, mouth breathing, and apnea.

Results show by four-years-old, children with sleep-disordered breathing were 20 to 60 percent more likely to exhibit behavioral difficulties.

Joe Austerman, D.O., from the Cleveland Clinic, says "for adults, when you have a bad night's sleep, you don't function well the next day.  This is true for children and adolescents."

"When they don't sleep well, they do poorer in school.  This may translate into poorer self-esteem or poorer control of their behaviors."

Complete findings for this study are in the Journal Pediatrics.