Introduction
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung epithelium. Asthma is a major health risk in childhood, not just in Australia, but also in various developed and developing countries across the world (Calogero et al., 2009). As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2004), as the most chronic disease among Australian children aged between 0–14 years, asthma has been identified as a common reason for hospitalization. There is thus need for the local council to initiate a public health campaign to raise social awareness about the causes of asthma and the methods for protecting children in Australia from asthma. This report discusses some possible causes of the increasing incidence of childhood asthma in Australia and provides some recommendations to avoid or mitigate this issue. This report investigates the causes of the increasing rate of childhood asthma in Australia.
Body
Background to the Situation
Asthma prevalence in Australian children is one of the highest in the world. Several ways exist that result in the development of wheezing illness and asthma. These include the interactions among a number of environmental risks and genetic risk factors. There has been attempts to understand the nature of such interactions most of which result in diseases in children. An understanding such as this may help in the development of interventions that aim to reduce incidences and prevalence of asthma. Cohort studies have been carried out to determine the purported risk factors resulting in childhood asthma, poor outcome, persistence of the illness as well as the frequency at which health-care services are sorted. There is a need to start a public health campaign to raise social awareness about the causes of asthma and the methods for protecting children in Australia from asthma.
Research Description
The research used literature that is published to determine possible causes of asthma. From the data collected, recommendations were made to help reduce the prevalence of asthma in children.
Findings
Vitamin D absence and geographical position
A vitamin D deficiency could lead to asthma in children. According to a research study conducted by Groan, (2011) 'A 10° geographical latitude change from south to north Eastern Seaboard is linked to a 2% increase in adult asthma prevalence'. He also observed that there is 'a link between asthma and geographical latitude for eight Australian regions'. In addition, for people who are living in latitudes between 35° 45°, the difference in geographical position causes a shortage of sunlight. Since sunlight is a crucial source for vitamin D production especially during wintertime, this difference in geographical position could likely affect the immune system and increase one’s chances of developing asthma (Groan 2011). There is considerable evidence to show that vitamin D deficiency triggered by decreasing sun exposure and increasing geographical latitude in the varied Australian landscape is responsible for the exacerbation, as well as development of asthma.
The connection between asthma and obesity in childhood
A research study by Peroni et al. (2010) articulates a number of mechanisms that underlie the association between obesity and asthma. Asthma is characterized by bouts of breathlessness, a common trait among obese children. Furthermore, approximately 25% of Australian children are either obese or overweight according to their measured BMI (Figure 1). This level of obesity can help explain the significant increase of asthma among Australian children. According to the ABS (2013), the fraction of obese Australian males in the 5–12-year-old age group increased since 1995 by three percentage points to 7%. As for girls, the increase in the 13–17-year-old age group is significant (up six percentage points to 18%) and high enough to be classified as overweight.
Exposure to passive smoking
Children are at a high risk of acquiring the effects of second-hand smoking. This is because children tend to have higher breathing rates, and hence increased chances of consuming more smoke. Children’s lungs are still developing, and increased exposure to smoke affects the development of their lungs and can lead to reduced lung function. According to the Australian Department of Health (2000), approximately 8% of asthma-related symptoms in Australia are attributable to passive smoking. In other words, passive smoking is a major health hazard to millions of children, especially children who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Indeed, in 2004 the ABS asserted that 'more than 37% of children in the 0-14 age group live in households with one or more regular smokers'. Furthermore, an additional '10% of children in the 0-14 age group live in households with at least one regular smoker who smokes indoors'. Therefore, passive smoking may be related to the increased asthma rates among Australian children.
Conclusions
According to the results presented above, it is evident that childhood asthma remains a considerable burden in Australia due to vitamin D deficiencies, increasing childhood obesity and other risk factors, such as second-hand smoking. All these risk factors can be addressed and are thus preventable. This knowledge about the causes of the increased prevalence of asthma among children can be used in designing public health interventions to address this public health concern.
Recommendations
- The local bodies or councils need to develop education programs by using different kinds of advertising, such as TV, social media and newspaper, to inform families regarding what they need to do to ensure their children do not suffer from vitamin D deficiencies. Furthermore, such bodies/councils should provide vitamin D supplementation programs that can be implemented in schools to prevent vitamin D deficiencies.
- Weight management programs should be taught in schools and neighbourhoods, targeting obese and overweight children and their parents. These programs should educate parents and children to make sure they know the importance of adequate and proper nutrition. If necessary, such programs can also teach people about healthy forms of dieting.
- These programs should provide information about the impact of passive smoking to ensure that people understand that they should avoid smoking indoors to prevent exposing children to second-hand smoke.
Reference List
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2004, Tobacco smoking in Australia: a snapshot, 2004-05, viewed 17 September 2014, >http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4831.0.55.001/<.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2013), Gender indicators, 2011-12, viewed 17 September 2014, >http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0~Jan%202013~Main%20Features~Overweight%20and%20obesity~3330<.
Australian Department of Health 2000, National response to passive smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces, viewed 20 September 2014, >http://www.health.vic.gov.au/archive/archive2014/nphp/publications/legislation/smoke_passive.pdf<.
Calogero, C, Kusel, MMH, Van Bever, HPS & Sly, PD 2009, ‘Management of childhood asthma in western Australia’, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 139-148.
Goran, K 2011, ‘Asthma prevalence associated with geographical latitude and regional insolation in the United States of America and Australia’, PLOS ONE (2011), vol. 6, no.4, pp. e18492, viewed 15 September 2014, >http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018492#pone-0018492-t004<.
Peroni, D, Pietrobelli, A & Boner, A 2010, 'Asthma and obesity in childhood: on the road ahead', International journal of obesity (2005), vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 599-605.
