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Summary
What is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease. It affects your airways, the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. When you have asthma, your airways can become inflamed and narrowed. This can cause wheezing, coughing, and tightness in your chest. When these symptoms get worse than usual, it is called an asthma attack or flare-up.
How does asthma affect children?
Asthma often starts during childhood, usually before age 5. Many children have asthma - it is the most common chronic disease of childhood. It can cause children to miss school and end up in the hospital. But treatments can help manage asthma.
What causes asthma in children?
The exact cause of asthma is unknown. Genetics and environment likely play a role in which children get asthma.
An asthma attack can happen when your child is exposed to an asthma trigger. An asthma trigger is something that can set off or worsen asthma symptoms. Different triggers can cause different types of asthma:
- Allergic asthma is caused by allergens. Allergens are substances that cause an allergic reaction. They can include
- Dust mites
- Mold
- Pets
- Pollen from grass, trees, and weeds
- Waste from pests such as cockroaches and mice
- Nonallergic asthma is caused by triggers that are not allergens, such as
- Breathing in cold air
- Certain medicines
- Household chemicals
- Infections such as colds and the flu
- Outdoor air pollution
- Tobacco smoke
- Exercise-induced asthma happens during physical exercise, especially when the air is dry
Asthma triggers may be different for each child and can change over time.
Which children are at risk for asthma?
Certain factors raise the risk of asthma in children:
- Being exposed to secondhand smoke when their mother is pregnant with them or when they are small children
- Genetics and family history. Children are more likely to have asthma if one of their parents has it, especially if it's the mother.
- Race or ethnicity. Black and African Americans and Puerto Ricans are at higher risk of asthma than people of other races or ethnicities.
- Having other diseases or conditions such as obesity and allergies
- Often having viral respiratory infections as young children
- Sex. In children, asthma is more common in boys. In teens, it is more common in girls.
What are the symptoms of asthma in children?
The symptoms of asthma in children include:
- Chest tightness
- Coughing, especially at night or early morning
- Breathing problems, such as shortness of breath, rapid breathing, or gasping for air
- Feeling tired
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Being irritable
- Wheezing, which causes a whistling sound when they breathe out
- Trouble eating or sucking (in infants)
These symptoms can range from mild to severe. They may happen often or only once in a while.
When children have an asthma attack, their symptoms get much worse. The attacks may come on gradually or suddenly. Sometimes they can be life-threatening. Warning signs of a severe attack include severe coughing, serious breathing problems, and turning very pale or blue in the face, lips and/or fingernails. If your child has those symptoms, get medical help right away.
How is asthma in children diagnosed?
It can be hard to diagnose asthma in children, especially if they are young. Asthma has similar symptoms as other childhood conditions. And some children may not have asthma symptoms very often, so it may seem like they are having respiratory infections instead.
Your child's health care provider may use many tools to diagnose asthma:
- Physical exam
- Medical history
- Chest x-ray
- Lung function tests, including spirometry, to test how well the lungs work. Younger children are usually not able to do these tests.
- Allergy skin or blood tests, if you have a history of allergies. These tests check which allergens cause a reaction from your immune system.
If you have a young child who cannot do lung function tests, the provider may suggest doing a trial of asthma medicines. The trial involves giving your child the medicines for several weeks to see whether the symptoms get better.
What are the treatments for asthma in children?
If your child has asthma, you will work with their health care provider to create a treatment plan. The plan will include ways to manage your child's asthma symptoms and prevent asthma attacks, such as:
- Strategies to avoid triggers. For example, if tobacco smoke is a trigger for your child, you should not allow anyone to smoke in your home or car.
- Short-term relief medicines, also called quick-relief medicines. They help prevent symptoms or relieve symptoms during an asthma attack. They include an inhaler to have for your child at all times. It may also include other types of medicines which work quickly to help open your child's airways.
- Control medicines. They work by reducing airway inflammation and preventing narrowing of the airways. Not all children will take control medicines. Whether or not your child needs them depends on how severe the asthma is and how often your child has symptoms.
If your child has a severe attack and the short-term relief medicines do not work, get medical help right away.
Your child's provider may adjust the treatment until the asthma symptoms are controlled.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Diagnosing Asthma in Babies & Toddlers (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
- Diagnosing Asthma in Children (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
- If My Baby Is Wheezing, Could It Be Asthma? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Pulmonary Function Testing in Children (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
Prevention and Risk Factors
- 9 Asthma Triggers and What to Do about Them (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
- Asthma Flare-Ups (for Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Prevention of Allergies and Asthma in Children (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Asthma Medicines: Long-Term Control (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- Asthma Medicines: Quick Relief (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- Medications to Treat Asthma in Children (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- Treating Asthma in Children Ages 5 to 11 (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Treating Asthma in Children under 5 (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Treatment and Action Plan (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
- What If Kids Don't Take Their Asthma Medicine? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- What's the Difference Between a Nebulizer and an Inhaler? (Nemours Foundation)
Living With
- Asthma Diary (Nemours Foundation)
- Help Your Child Gain Control Over Asthma (Environmental Protection Agency) - PDF
- School and Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Teaching Your Child about Asthma (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
- When to Go to the ER if Your Child Has Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Air Pollution and Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Asthma and Food Allergies (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
- Asthma and Physical Activity in the School (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - PDF
- Asthma Factsheet (for Schools) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Can People with Asthma Play Sports? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Can the Weather Affect My Child's Asthma? (Nemours Foundation)
- Dealing with Triggers: Pets (Nemours Foundation)
Specifics
- Asthma Triggers (Nemours Foundation)
- Dealing With Asthma Triggers (Nemours Foundation)
- Exercise-Induced Asthma (Nemours Foundation)
- Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction Defined (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
Genetics
- Allergic asthma: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Images
- Metered dose inhaler use - Series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Nebulizer use - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Peak flow meter use - Series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Spacer use - Series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Videos and Tutorials
- Self-Care for Asthma-Using Your Inhaler (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Test Your Knowledge
- Asthma Management Quiz (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Asthma Quiz (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
- EIB (Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction) Asthma Quiz (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
- Test Your Knowledge About Inhalers (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Asthma in Children (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Correlation Analysis of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels With Immune Function and...
- Article: Modification of asthma treatment efficacy by healthcare access: A reanalysis of...
- Article: Dupilumab is Efficacious in Young Children with Atopic Dermatitis Regardless of...
- Asthma in Children -- see more articles
Find an Expert
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
- American Lung Association
- Find an Allergist/Immunologist (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
- Lung HelpLine and Tobacco QuitLine (American Lung Association)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Children
- Air Pollution & Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Air Pollution and Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Asthma (Nemours Foundation)
- Dealing with Asthma Triggers (Nemours Foundation)
- Do Allergies Cause Asthma? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Handling an Asthma Flare-Up (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- How Do Asthma Medicines Work? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Teenagers
- Air Pollution and Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Asthma (Nemours Foundation)
- How Can I Deal with My Asthma? (Nemours Foundation)
- School and Asthma (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Smoking and Asthma (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation)
- What's an Asthma Action Plan? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Asthma - child - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Asthma - control drugs (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Asthma - quick-relief drugs (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Asthma and school (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Asthma in children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Exercise-induced asthma (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Exercising and asthma at school (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- How to breathe when you are short of breath (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- How to use a nebulizer (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- How to use an inhaler - no spacer (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- How to use an inhaler - with spacer (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Signs of an asthma attack (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish