New York, Jul 8 (IANS): Parents who smoke at home exposing their children to passive tobacco inhalation may increase the risk of developing habitual snoring in kids, according to a study.

The findings showed that children are at a two per cent higher risk of snoring for every cigarette smoke in home daily.

Children born to fathers who smoke were at a 45 per cent higher risk of snoring than unexposed children. While mothers who smoke increase the risk of developing habitual snoring in their kids by nearly 90 per cent.

Those exposed to prenatal smoke were almost twice as likely to develop habitual snoring.

"Some parents may think snoring in kids is benign or even cute. But snoring is often the first step towards developing sleep apnoea and has been linked to high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease," Lucy Popova, a researcher at Georgia State University was quoted as saying to the Daily Mail.

Sleep apnoea is a serious disorder characterized by regular pausing in breathing while sleeping.

Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study examined data from 24 existing studies that included nearly 88,000 children.

The team found that the younger a child is, the more susceptible he or she is to developing the habit of snoring.

"Quitting tobacco use entirely is the best way to preserve your own health and the health of your children," said Sophie Balk from Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York, US.

However the study was not able to show how smoking was associated with higher risk of developing habitual snoring among children.