Asthma is becoming a significant issue amongst our youth. There are many statistics that reflect the fact that children are much more likely to be asthma sufferers than adults. Just check the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s fact sheet.
To summarise:
- Asthma is more common in children than adults
- Asthma is the leading chronic disease in children.
- Currently, there are about 6.2 million children under the age of 18 with asthma.
- in 2017, 1 in 12 children had asthma.
- It is the top reason for missed school days. In 2013 alone, about 13.8 million missed school days were reported due to asthma.
Fortunately, parents can tackle this issue in several ways. The symptoms can be curtailed in an effective manner if properly managed.
Here are some of the things to look at if your kids have asthma or allergies:
- Check your home environment
This is perhaps the most obvious thing to do when your kids have asthma or allergies. Checking the home environment is of immense importance as asthma usually stems from what they are exposed to. Exposure to different environmental degradations, tobacco and dust can be a major problem and trigger asthma flare ups or perhaps even potentiate the disease. If you have a smoker in the house, the first thing you need to do is tell them to not smoke within the house, or ideally quit for the sake of your children and secondhand smoke. You should also look for different symptoms such as furry pets and outdoor allergens. This will help in addressing the issue better.
- Know how to test for asthma and allergies
This is one of the most underlooked things when it comes to searching for symptoms. Parents need to know the different tests that kids need to go through in order to figure out asthma and allergy-related problems. An Asthma control test and pulmonary function test are the two most common tests that all parents should know about in order to deal with this issue. Consult with your general practitioner, this way you can get the right preventative medicine for your children.
- Home furnishings
There are a lot of things within your home such as your furnishings that can beoptimised. Your window furnishings, floor rugs, and furniture can be changed to be more asthma friendly. For your window coverings, you can source fabrics from established suppliers of window blinds; since these fabrics are made locally you know you’re getting what is advertised. The company that you should be looking at will make stock fabrics from organic plasticisers rather than fossil fuel-based plasticisers. The end result is a fabric that has almost zero VOC emissions, these noxious gases are known to trigger asthmatics and create allergy flare ups.
You can ensure the textiles used are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX, these are one of the world’s best-known labels for textiles that are always tested for harmful substances.
For any floor rugs try to use Nylon based material as it is the most effective allergy-controlling carpet fibre. On the other hand, Wool should be avoided at all costs because it is the perfect environment for allergens and mold. Regardless of what material you choose to go with, avoid any shag rugs – if the strands are shorter, it has fewer places the pollen can be absorbed. Try to choose a carpet that will have tightly woven strands for the very same reason.
- Try to schedule outside time
Always consult the weather forecast, as they report the expected pollen levels outside. If it is a high pollen day and your children are already susceptible to allergies then you can schedule them to do indoor activities on those days.
- Be patient with the treatments
One of the biggest mistakes that most parents make is not to be patient with the treatments. Most of the treatments are preventative and more often than not take a while to start working and to actually notice a difference. Your kid could still encounter an asthma attack while starting preventative medicine.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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