Children’s Environmental Health is defined as all things in the environment that affect a child’s health. In the school setting, a child’s health status has a direct link to his or her ability to learn. Therefore, maintaining a healthy school environment will help to ensure that children are healthy and ready to learn.

Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to a chronic illness.¹ In a classroom of 30 children, an average of 3 will have asthma, with 2 of them having had an asthma episode in the last year.² Asthma is a chronic disease that has occasional episodes or attacks.

While asthma cannot be cured, it can be managed successfully. The goal of good asthma management should be for a child to be able to participate in all activities. Creating an asthma-friendly school is the process of ensuring that the school has in place all the pieces that allow the child with asthma to be healthy and able to learn.

School boards can be one of the key components to building an asthma friendly school by providing policies that are supportive of the students with asthma. Here are some examples of supportive policies.

1. Ensure students have rapid access to medication, including self-carry, as indicated by a physician.
   
   
2. Require each student with asthma to provide the school with an Asthma Action Plan, which includes what to do during an asthma emergency that can be accessed immediately.
   
   
3. Provide asthma education to staff and students on managing asthma at school.
   
   
4. Proactively maintain indoor air quality by instituting a comprehensive management program such as IAQ Tools for Schools.
   
5. Assure smoke-free buildings and grounds.
   
   
6. Utilize integrated pest management.
   
   
7. Manage students’ exposure on high outdoor-air-pollution days.
   
   
8. Ensure that students with asthma participate fully in physical education by providing access to necessary medication and modifying activities when needed.

Several valuable resources for setting policy to achieve an asthma-friendly school are available from the Web sites in the box accompanying this article.

In addition to print resources, communities provide a wealth of knowledge and energy for schools. Contacting local asthma coalitions for assistance in planning and implementing your asthma-friendly schools program can be a great way to ensure that kids are ready to learn while engaging the community and reducing the burden on the school staff. Ensuring that children with asthma are healthy and ready to learn is the mission of the community, the school, and the families.

1. Surveillance for Asthma-United States, 1980-1999. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, March 29, 2002. Vol. 51, No. SS-I.
   
   
2. A. N. Dey and B. Bloom, Summary of Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2003. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(223), 2005.

Online Asthma Resources