Childhood Asthma Affects Millions of Children in America

For children in the United States, childhood asthma is the leading chronic illness. Roughly 7 million children below the age of 18 were diagnosed with childhood asthma in 2006 and about 1.2 million of those children were younger than 5. Childhood asthma is one of the main reasons why children below the age of 15 are checked into hospitals. In 2005, roughly 32.6 percent of those who were treated at hospitals for asthma were children below the age of 15. The disease has also kept children ages 5 to 17 out of school for 12.8 million school days. Childhood asthma was the number one reason children missed school in 2003.

Needless to say, childhood asthma is a serious matter. Common childhood asthma symptoms include:

If your child begins to cough after running or crying, he or she may have childhood asthma
If you heard audible whistling and wheezing sounds when your child exhales, that could be a sign of childhood asthma
If your child experiences shortness of breath or rapid breathing
If your child frequently has respiratory infections or is constantly coughing, they should be checked out for childhood asthma

Your child may also begin to become frustrated and moody due to chest pains or shortness of breath; listen to their complaints. With infants telling signs of childhood asthma are trouble feeding or grunting while suckling. Childhood asthma, like any asthma, is usually triggered through exercise, irritants, weather and stressful moments. Exercise like running will likely trigger an asthma attack in children 80 percent of the time. Inhalers are recommended before your child exercises. Environmental toxins can also trigger your child’s asthma; if there are low air-quality warnings avoid going outdoors.

Remember, there is no cure for childhood asthma, but there are ways of treating the ailment. Consult your physician to determine what kind of asthma your child has (exercise-induced, allergic, cough-variant or nocturnal) so your child can receive the right medication to control his or her symptoms.