ASTHMA AND LIMITATION OF ACTIVITIES IN CHILDREN

A series of studies in over 30 elementary schools in Alberta has shown that approximately 10 percent of elementary school children have asthma. Around 13 percent have had a physician's diagnosis at some time in their lives, indicating that 3 percent no longer have asthma symptoms. Children with asthma are approximately three times as likely to have a history of pneumonia, twice as likely to miss school for health reasons, and 10 times as likely to have a limitation of their activities than children without asthma. These rates are approximately twice as high as those reported across Canada. However, recent data from a large national study indicate that asthma prevalence rates in Edmonton school children are fairly typical of rates found across the country. These studies were funded by the Alberta Lung Association, the Edge King Fund of the University of Alberta Hospitals, and Sandoz.