Five million kids under age eighteen are now afflicted with the disease. Maurice knows their struggle. His mom used to keep Maurice inside to protect him from air pollution, but experts say what kids breathe inside may be more dangerous than outside air. In fact, one British study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed kids with a predisposition for the disease were less likely to get asthma when parents kept the home dust free. The children who grew up in the dust free home, even though they were at risk for asthma, had less allergy to dust mite, and less asthma, says Dr. Gerry Teague, a pulmonary specialist.
Kids generally develop allergies in the preschool year and escalate toward asthma before age nine.
Teague says parents should make sure kids avoid exposure to second hand smoke,and dusty and moldy environments. Outside exercise and good nutrition are also good preventives. Kids who spend more time indoors and eat foods high in fat are more likely to develop asthma. Should Know Asthma has become the most common chronic disease in children and adolescents in the industrialized world. While a genetic predisposition is thought to be necessary to develop the disease, experts now believe environmental factors can trigger asthma.