London - Sleepwalking could run in the family, researchers claim.
A study found children are seven times more likely to walk in their sleep if both parents had a history of doing the same.
More than 60 percent of children developed sleepwalking when both their parents were sleepwalkers, a study of 1 940 youngsters in Quebec, Canada, found. It is common in children but usually disappears in adolescence.
And the study, published in journal JAMA Pediatrics, also found that children with one parent who was a sleepwalker were three times as likely to sleepwalk as those whose parents did not.
Researcher Dr Jacques Montplaisir said: “Parents who have been sleepwalkers in the past, particularly in cases where both parents have been sleepwalkers, can expect their children to sleepwalk and thus should prepare adequately.”
Daily Mail