Asthma in Children

Asthma is a leading cause of chronic illness in childhood, and is responsible for a significant portion of school days lost because of chronic illness. It is also estimated that between 5 and 10% of children will at some time in their lives have signs and symptoms compatible with asthma. Before puberty, about twice as many boys are affected as girls; after puberty the numbers are equal.1 As in adults, the incidence of asthma and the death rate from childhood asthma are on the rise.2 There is no simple explanation for the increase in illness and death caused by childhood asthma, but delay in seeking treatment and increase in air pollution are two possible causes.

Despite the fact that both adult and childhood asthma are on the rise, there are some basic differences between asthma in adults and that in children. Allergy plays a more important role in childhood asthma than in adults. Most asthmatic children will have one or more other signs and symptoms of allergic disease and most children who will develop asthma have their first attack before age 2. Childhood asthma seems to be more prevalent in homes where the parents smoke, as are other respiratory diseases including the common cold, the result of air pollutants in cigarette smoke.