Functional Breathing and Healthy Kids – What every parent needs to know

Good, functional breathing in childhood helps to create foundations for life-long health and correct structural development. A large number of children have breathing issues or dysfunctions that are often overlooked or dismissed as unimportant.

Poor breathing can have negative effects on many aspects of a child’s health and wellbeing.

Breathing difficulties during the day and particularly during sleep can influence mood, behaviour, learning ability and predisposition to anxiety. A child’s habitual breathing behaviours and the ease with which they can take in air impacts on their posture and muscle use. Mouth breathing in particular has been shown to disrupt facial, dental and structural development.

The good news is that once the causes of a child’s breathing issues are addressed, poor breathing habits and incorrect muscle function can often be corrected through breathing exercises and functional retraining of orofacial muscles and posture.

 

Signs that a child’s breathing may need attention

Mouth breathing	Frequent colds	Pale face, dark circles under the eyes
Past or present asthma	Lots of blocked and runny noses	Snoring or sleep apnea
Restless or difficult sleep	Tooth grinding at night	Bedwetting
Unusual breathing patterns with irregular breathing	Unexplained breathlessness	Narrow palate, crooked teeth, poor jaw development

 

Causes of breathing dysfunction

Functional breathing issues in children can start due to allergy, asthma or enlarged adenoids and tonsils.  Other common causes of breathing and airway problems in children include gastro-esophageal reflux, prematurity, newborn breathing difficulty. Stress, trauma and emotional issues can also play a role. These causes need to be adequately addressed, with attention from appropriate health professionals.

 

The role of breathing and orofacial muscle retraining

Dysfunctional or abnormal breathing behaviours can become established as part of vicious cycles that can be self-perpetuating. Breathing exercises and mind-body practices can help to restore functional breathing and break these vicious cycles. Orofacial myofunctional exercises are often needed in addition to breathing retraining to correct tongue and oral muscle function.

 

The Healthy Breathing Healthy Child (HBHC) program

The HBHC program combines breathing retraining, mind-body practices and orofacial muscle training in a structured child friendly program that runs over 5 weeks of either private or small group sessions.