School asthma progammes good for health
10 June 2004

School-based asthma education programmes could help to reduce symptoms and absenteeism in some children with asthma, American doctors have found.

Researchers studied a group of 835 children with asthma, aged 7-11 and living in low-income communities in Detroit, Michigan. Half of the children were taught about asthma at school, including advice on managing symptoms targeted at them and also at their classmates, teachers and parents. The remainder of the group received no specific asthma-related training in school.

The scientists assessed levels of symptoms, academic grades and school absenteeism in all of the children at the beginning of the study. After an interval of two years they found that the students with persistent asthma who had been taught about managing their condition experienced 14% fewer daytime symptoms than the control group. They had also missed school less frequently because of their asthma, said their parents, with a 34% reduction in asthma-related absences in the previous three months.

Such school programmes 'can help children with asthma experience fewer symptoms and do better at school,' said Dr Noreen M. Clark, from the University of Michigan, who led the study. Indeed, children who benefited from the training achieved higher marks in science, although not in reading, maths or PE. 'Implementing such a program is not difficult,' added Dr Clark.

Asthma UK's Health Promotion Officer Lizzy Martenson agreed: 'Many studies have shown the value of educating children about how to control their asthma more effectively in order to reduce their symptoms.

'Teachers and other children also benefit greatly by understanding more about asthma and what to if their pupils or friends with asthma have an attack.'