Parents Preventing Asthma Attacks

Reported May 2010

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Asthma is the most common chronic illness children face. It affects over 5 million children in the U.S. It's not a curable disease, but the symptoms can be eased with a few simple routines at home.

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Asthma is the most common chronic illness children face. It affects over 5 million children in the U.S. It's not a curable disease, but the symptoms can be eased with a few simple routines at home.

After several trips to the emergency room and many sleepless nights, Nancy Carr was determined to help her son Eamonn get over a chronic cough.

"It seemed like he was coughing all night, every night for 6 months," Carr recalled to Ivanhoe.

Eamonn was diagnosed with asthma, which can result in poor lung functions, sleep problems, risk for obesity, and anxiety.

"Kids can experience a poorer quality of life, that is they worry a lot about their symptoms," Barbara Fiese, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Ill., explained.

Behavioral scientists found that children worry less about their asthma when parents have regular routines in the home, most importantly at the dinner table.

"Families that were able to sort of get it together around their regular mealtime, the kids had fewer health symptoms," Dr. Fiese said. "They experienced a better quality of life."

Researchers found improvement in children's lung functioning when parents create routines reminding kids to take medications, and limit daily stressors, like arguments and late bedtimes. Talking to kids during mealtimes and other activities helps kids know parents care and helps kids feel better.

"These are the times at which parents have an opportunity to sort of catch up with what's going on in your child's daily life," Dr. Fiese explained.

Putting food and conversation on the table together helps provide a sense of security for kids, helping to keep their asthma in check.

"No more ER visits," Carr said.

She can now spend quality time at home instead of at the hospital.

Researchers found daily stressors, like disrupted mealtimes and late bedtimes, predict the likelihood children will wake up in the middle of the night to the same degree as exposure to environmental allergens, like dust mites or tobacco smoke.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Brenda Davis Koester
Coordinator
Family Resiliency Center
(217) 244-6486
bkoester@illinois.edu

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