Once asthma is diagnosed, the child s physician and parents or caretakers will work with the child on an effective management and treatment plan. If the child is very young, parents or caretakers must assist by observing for possible asthma symptoms, helping the child use a tool called a peak flow meter to objectively measure the ease or difficulty of breathing, and ensuring the child receives appropriate medications when needed. Older children can follow a management and treatment plan on their own with less supervision. However, if a child s asthma becomes difficult to manage, it may be that he or she requires closer supervision by parents. Since asthma is a disease that does not follow a set course, predicting a particular child s symptoms and clinical progress is not possible.
Some children have asthma symptoms that improve during adolescence, while others worsen.
Often, symptoms in young children seem to resolve, but their asthma may flare up later in life. However, for most children, asthma can be controlled with appropriate management and treatment. While asthma is a chronic illness, it should not be a progressively debilitating disease a child with asthma can have normal or near-normal lung function with appropriate management and medications. It is also very possible for a child with asthma to have normal endurance and even excel in athletics many Olympic athletes have asthma. Parents may have the urge to restrict their asthmatic child s physical activity to prevent wheezing.