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Statistics on Asthma in Children

According to emedicinehealth.com, 17.3 percent of people in the U.S. are affected with asthma. Of these people children who are 10 years old or younger account for nearly 50 percent of the cases.

  1. Fact

    • According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.4 percent of children have asthma. This high level of incidence is related not only to genetics, but environmental conditions.

    History

    • According to MedicineNet.com the number of children with asthma has increased significantly during the last 20 years. Such a large rise in numbers leads researchers to believe that the increase is also because of changing environmental conditions.

    Risk Factors

    • While genetics do play a role in the incidence of childhood asthma, statistics show that environmental conditions such as tobacco smoke, urban pollution and allergies contribute to a child's development of asthma, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    Genetics

    • According to MedicineNet.com a child has a 63 percent chance of having asthma if both of his parents have the condition. Whereas a child who has only one parent with asthma only has a 23 percent chance of also having asthma.

    Potential

    • A child cannot outgrow asthma but about 50 percent of children may find their asthma will be inactive in their teen years, according to MedicineNet.com. The condition may return during his adulthood at anytime.

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