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Asthma Increase in Children

According to the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, the percentage of children in the United States with asthma has doubled since 1980. This dramatic asthma increase in children typically arises as a result of differences in the air your child breathes.

  1. The Facts

    • Asthma occurs when your child's bronchial tubes become inflamed and make it more difficult for her to breathe. Asthma in children occurs as a result of triggers--allergies, airborne irritants or infections that cause inflammation of your child's airways.

    Increased Sensitivity

    • The Collaborative on Health and the Environment suggests that an increase in children's sensitivity to asthma triggers explains in part the drastic rise in asthma in children. Thus, even though the number of asthma triggers may not be increasing, your child's heightened sensitivity to those triggers makes her more likely to develop asthma.

    Indoor Air Pollution

    • According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University and published in the February 2009 issue of "Environmental Health Perspectives," children are being exposed at younger ages to chemicals indoor that irritate the breathing passages and can cause or worsen asthma symptoms.

    Ground-Level Ozone

    • Ground-level ozone, a pollutant in smog, occurs as a result of the reaction of sunlight with chemicals from cars and factories and can trigger asthma in children. Statistics from the American Lung Association (ALA) indicate that more than 27 million children in the United States, including almost 2 million children with asthma, may be exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone.

    Particle Pollution

    • According to the ALA, increasing levels of particle pollution--which occurs when tiny bits of substances such as dust, smoke, acids and soot mix into the air that your child breathes--also contribute to the asthma increase in children.

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