Bullying Part of Life for Kids With Asthma

One in Ten Kids Teased Over Condition, Researchers Say

By CRYSTAL PHEND, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer

Nov. 6, 2010

VANCOUVER -- One in 10 kids with asthma reports bullying or teasing related to the condition; its impact on other aspects of life varies from country to country, researchers found.

Asthma had the worst impact on Canadian children, who were more likely to report feeling sad and to express regret at being unable to participate in sports than were children in other parts of the world, Dr. William D. Carroll of Derbyshire Children's Hospital in Derby, England, and colleagues reported at the CHEST meeting here.

The universal nature of bullying, though, was "really quite startling," Carroll told MedPage Today.

"It's not something as a physician we ask our children," he noted in an interview. "We think kids wouldn't do that, but it appears we're wrong and it is quite common."

The findings overall emphasize the need to talk to pediatric asthma patients about bullying specifically as well as what other impact their disease may be having on their life, he said.

The Room to Breathe study included 1,284 kids with asthma and their parents interviewed by phone in Canada, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Britain and in face-to-face interviews in South Africa. Children ages 8 to 15 were interviewed themselves while parental interviews were used for 4- to 8-year-olds.


Based on symptoms reported in the interview, complete asthma control was achieved by only 15.3 percent of the children overall.

The lack of complete control "may be due to steroid fear of parents or underestimation of the impact of asthma on children," the researchers noted in the presentation.

Carroll said one big message for physicians was the need to have conversations about medications and how they work.

"Lots [of parents] are still worried about side effects," he told MedPage Today.

Perceived asthma severity differed substantially between parents and children. For example, Canadian parents matched their children's opinion in just 46% of cases.

Control of asthma was similar for Canadian kids -- representing North America in the study -- as for the rest of the world.

While it varies from country to country, one in 10 children with asthma have reported bullying related to their condition.

(Getty Images)

However, Canadian children were more likely to say they feel sad and left out than those in other countries, although the number who claimed those feelings was under 20 percent.

But only about 30 percent of Canadian kids with asthma felt "no different" than other kids, whereas elsewhere in the world the rate was about 50 percent.

Asthma also has an impact on family lifestyle, with 66 percent of Canadian parents interviewed reporting changes such as forbidding smoking in the house, removing potential allergens, and avoiding artificial or chemical triggers.

Sports participation was a big complaint worldwide, with about 55 percent of Canadian kids and 45 percent of those in other countries with asthma saying they wished they could play.

The reason for the difference in Canada might be the popularity there of cold weather sports, such as hockey, Carroll suggested, noting, "cold air is a specific trigger for asthma."


Coaches and teachers might be mostly responsible for the restrictions in sports participation, Carroll speculated.

"Parents were telling us they didn't restrict their activity terribly," he explained in the interview.

British kids with asthma showed a "high" rate of participation in sports, he noted.

Demographics and rates of asthma in America are similar to those in Canada and Britain and most of the results likely generalize from those countries to the U.S., Carroll said, although on which side U.S. kids fall on sports participation isn't clear.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AsthmaChildren/bullying-part-life-kids-asthma/story?id=12045965

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Everyone is born uniquely, same goes to those with asthma. To them, they wished they are like normal children, able to run and play around happily, enjoying their childhood. But to them, sports are a big NO NO to them. And hence, they are often left out, bullied by other children. This will lead to them having a sad childhood with no smiles or laughters, just plainly getting bullied. This will change their life at a later stage when they grow up. They will not trust anyone or befriend anyone. Having asthma does not give others the right to bully. Kids with asthma should also be treated like other children and should not be bullied.
Bullying or teasing kids with asthma is outrageously wrong. These kids are victims themselves for contracting asthma unfortunately against their wishes. What if you were the one that have it? Would you like being bullied by others? Most of us would not like that treatment from others. We should all put ourselves in their shoes and consider their feelings. Having already a hard time being restricted in sports participation and losing their freedom, kids with asthma definitely deserve neither the bullying nor stereotyping but our understanding. They are not different from us, therefore all such ridiculous and childish acts must stop.
Since people with asthma are especially prone to attacks during cold weather conditions, it is right for them to be excused from doing sports lest an attack occurs which may possibly be serious or even fatal. Facing such high risks, they should not be discriminated against for not partaking in sports. Discriminations could be due to misunderstandings as those who have never experienced being asthmatic before may not understand what it feels like.
In order to minimize the damage done to the kids with asthma, it is important for schools to teach the children that kids with asthma should be treated like other normal children.
What the schools or teachers could do is to educate their students about asthma; the causes, symptoms and reasons on why they should be excused from taking part in intensive activities.
Videos can also be shown to let the children know the troubles and problems that kids with asthma have to face everyday. Although normal children will never get to know how asthmatic feel, through videos, at least the children will know that kids with asthma also yearn to be like normal children to play and run around freely.
With a more advanced education system, it will lower the percentage of bullying and teasing due to asthma. This is important as bullying or teasing as a child may affect the child significantly throughout his/her life (e.g. demoralise them). Asthma can be managed, hence it shouldn't restrict people suffering from asthma from sports.
Some parents are still worried about the side effects while the rest underestimate the impact of asthma. In order to mend such uncertainties, parents should be let known of asthma as a whole. Only when parents are more aware of asthma and its impacts, will their suffering children be able to have a complete control over the illness. Conversations about medications and how they work can then help heal asthma from the roots.
The word 'children' links to a majority of us playing and running freely in the open field, playing games, sports, and playground — happy and trouble-free. This impression should also be in all children, including kids with problems, like asthma. Bullying and discrimination should not be present. Asthma kids also deserve to have happy and memorable childhoods like everyone else and lead a life with a smile on their faces.