Children who wake frequently at night at 'double risk of asthma'
10 December 2009

Children who woke up twice or more times a week up to the age of three were twice as likely to go on to develop asthma, according to research.

The findings have surprised experts who previously thought the connection between sleep patterns and asthma was that the wheezing symptoms were what was causing children to wake.

The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, followed 2,400 children in Australia from birth to age 14 with their mothers filling out detailed questionnaires about their pregnancy as well as the child's sleep patterns, their family lifestyle, home environment and any other medical conditions.

The children who had broken sleep up to the age of three were more than twice as likely to be receiving treatment for asthma at age 14. The effect remained even after taking into account other factors associated with asthma such as breastfeeding and having pets in the home.

Lead author Anita Kozyrskyj, of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, said: ‘A reduction in the number of hours of sleep had already been blamed for ADHD and child obesity, but to our knowledge this is the first time the onset of asthma has been associated with broken sleep.’

Leanne Metcalf, Assistant Director of Research at Asthma UK, said: ‘The UK has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the world so this research could have significant implications for parents. It is important to note however, that the children in this study with broken sleep also tended to come from low-income families with a stressful home environment.

‘The link between stress and asthma is well established, although the relationship is still not fully understood. Part of the link may be due to the effects of stress on the body's immune system and we know that the workings of the immune system can also be affected by sleep.

‘At this early stage in the research we can only reinforce the need for a healthy and balanced lifestyle during pregnancy and early life as this is the best way to protect your child from developing a condition that affects one in 11 children in the UK.’