Asthma and Children

Turn to The Green Guide for information about asthma and children. There is no doubt that air pollution is one of the many factors that can aggravate asthma in children and others, whose incidence has increased by more than 40 percent since 1980, according to the CDC. Now doctors are wondering whether bad air plays a role in causing asthma in kids. A study on asthma and child health conducted at the University of Southern California School of Medicine last year suggests that children who exercise heavily in ozone-polluted areas may have more of a risk of developing asthma. "The jury is still out on whether air pollution causes asthma in children or not. If children have asthma already there is no doubt air pollution will aggravate it," says Frank D. Gilliland, M.D., one of the investigators. "The debate is whether it can cause new-onset asthma. There is a growing body of evidence that it does, but we need more studies to understand it better." For more about asthma and children, read the articles linked to below.

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