Asthma in Kids and Teens

Here you will find links to resources about care, services, and support and websites about asthma in kids and teens.

Care, Services, and Support

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI): Find an Allergist / Immunologist.
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Find a Pediatrician or Pediatric Specialist. Search by doctor name, city, state, zip code, country, or medical specialty, including allergy and immunology.
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Find an AAFA chapter for a variety of services, educational programs, and support. Find an educational support group for parents, pre-teens, and teens. Find a local AAFA partner clinic. Join AAFA's online support community.
EnviroFlash. Sign up to receive a daily e-mail with an air quality-forecast and suggestions for how to stay safe when air quality is bad.
Family Voices (FV). Family Voices in Your State and Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) help you find resources and services to provide and pay for health care for your kids.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Find a Health Center. Search by address, city, state, or zip code to find a federally funded health center that provides free or low-cost care.
Insure Kids Now. Links to each state’s child and teen health insurance program website. Available in English and Spanish. Telephone: (877) 543-7669 (KIDS-NOW).
National Allergy Bureau (NAB): Pollen and Mold Levels. Click on a map or select a city to get reports on current pollen and mold spore levels from counting stations across the country.
Smokefree.gov. Secondhand smoke can trigger an asthma attack. Get an online step-by-step guide to quitting smoking, talk to an expert by phone or through an instant messaging service, and find tools to help you quit.
See the MCH Digital Library’s Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families. Also see the Care, Services, and Support section of the family resource brief, Kids and Teens with Special Health Care Needs.

Websites

Allergy and Asthma Network, Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA). Information in English and Spanish about asthma and allergies. Topics include medications, dealing with emergencies, flu, indoor air quality, and asthma management at school.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Flu and People with Asthma. Steps to fight the flu.
Community Asthma Prevention Program of Philadelphia (CAPP): Controlling Asthma: A Guide for Families. Video clips for families about asthma in kids and teens and how to manage it.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Attack Asthma. Learn More. Facts in English and Spanish about asthma, reducing common asthma triggers in your home, and avoiding outdoor asthma triggers. A section for kids has games that can help them learn about asthma.
HealthyChildren.org: Allergies and Asthma. Articles and video and audio clips about asthma and its triggers, treatment, and management at school.
Healthy Roads Media: Asthma. Read about asthma in kids, listen, or watch a video. The information is in English, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
KidsHealth Asthma Center. Articles in English and Spanish for parents, teens, and kids about preventing asthma attacks, medications and monitoring, and living with asthma. Includes an asthma action plan and an asthma diary.
National Asthma Control Initiative (NACI): Patients, Families and Caregivers. Fact sheet, guide, video clip, and wallet card about asthma and asthma care. Includes an asthma action plan to complete with your kids' doctor about how to manage asthma each day and during an attack. The plan also lists things you can do to help your kids avoid asthma triggers.
Children's Health Fund. 2009. Family Asthma Guide: The Goal is Control. New York, NY: Children's Health Fund. This guide for kids and teens with asthma and their families provides information about asthma and how to control it. The guide explains what asthma is and talks about triggers, medications, and making an action plan. Also available in Spanish.

Learn more about asthma in kids and teens.

Need more information? Use the collection of resources that library staff have put together for you and your family.

Asthma in Kids and Teens: Family Resource Brief, 2nd ed. (February 2011). (Updated: July 2014).

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Ellen Bowser, R.D., L.D., University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center; Cindy Capen, M.S.N., University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center; Susan Horky, L.C.S.W., University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center; Elizabeth M. Klements, M.S., P.N.P.–B.C., A.E.–C., Children's Hospital Boston; Angela Miney, Family Partner, University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center; Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library; Mary H. Wagner, M.D., University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center; Elizabeth R. Woods, M.D., M.P.H, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.