Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by jerry w: My four year seems to have sleep apnea. And she is overweight we are working on all of this?
by trying to help her lose weight and she is going to a sleep study. the doctor will then decide if she needs her tonsils out. My husband has sleep apnea. I am concerned for her to sleep.
How dangerous is this condition for a four year old. Yes we are working on the weight and she is still getting testing done. My question is …is there a chance children can pass away with this?
I may be to worried about something that can be easily fixed with diet and surgery. I find myself going to check on her …thru the night.

Best answer:

Answer by Minileo
It is not unusual for chubby 4 year old, to have large tonsils and adenoids resulting in snoring and short periods of sleep apnea. As the child grows the size of the tonsils and adenoids will also regress. The only problem is, regression to an adult sized tonsil and adenoid is not complete until the child is in her teens.
Short periods of apnea is tolerable, but prolonged apnea lasting more than 15 secs. is a problem, since tissue oxygenation drops as a result of poor lung ventilation. To compensate for this poor oxygenation, the heart has to increase its output by increasing its rate of pumping. If this persist for years, the heart’s size will enlarge, and because of extra work the heart tires and starts to fail.
Keep close touch with your pediatrician and sleep center.

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Question by Change Sucks: Overweight versus underweight children…?
I can’t figure out where else to put this question, forgive me if it’s in the wrong place but it pertains directly to parents…
Why is it that society demonizes parents who malnurish/starve their kids BUT then at the same time we are supposed to turn a blind eye so we don’t offend parents who overfeed, causing small children to be sometimes upwards of 50 pounds or more overweight? Both are equally unhealthy, however the overweight child is more likely to just grow up and have many health problems-diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc and live with feeling like an outcast. Why do we treat either parent differently than the other? Both do severe damage to their children…
I’m just curious about your thoughts…

Thanks.
I have three children. By all means I let them have their share of “junk” foods, BUT, it’s in moderation. And yes, it’s hard to withstand the nagging of a child when they want another cookie, but I do because it’s not healthy to keep letting them have them… just saying because I think some would think I may not understand.
Also, in terms of the possibility that a child is just naturally “big boned”, that’s fine. But being a little more stocky is seperate from parents allowing their child to become overweight/obese.
As long as a parent feeds their child a predominantly healthy diet and their child gets daily activity/exercise, then there’s no beef. It’s the parents whose cart at the store is full of frozen pizzas, sodas, doritos, and fruit snacks with no sign of actual food and the parents and/or child is notably overweight.

Honestly, I’m not being insensitive, I’m genuinely curious.
I’m glad you pointed that out-not underweight in terms of being a little slim, but genuinely malnurished/starved.
Our youngest is actually VERY slim for her age/height. I actually try to feed her a little extra because it concerns me, but it’s not a medical problem. She’s just the way she is.

Both make me so sad to see/hear about. I trully believe both should be treated equally because both are equally dangerous, just in their own ways.
Pink-excellent point! Never thought of that… and it’s easier to force feed the underweight than to make drastic lifestyle changes when a person is overweight… wow, lightbulb moment!

Best answer:

Answer by seattlelvr
I agree and think it has to do with the fact that if your child is malnurished and not being taken care of it could actually constitute as abuse. It’s intentional. I don’t think any parent wants their child to be overweight or obese. They are just ignorant.

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I Wake up in the morning feeling so tired and fatigued. Also depressed,
I was also been told that snor.
could it be sleep apnea?

Thank you

I have a pretty big belly up high between my rib cage,,is that causing me to test like it’s sleep apnea? My doctor sez there’s a 25% chance that it’s testing as sleep apnea.