Health - Respiratory Diseases
Respiratory diseases and illness such as asthma and allergies can greatly impair a child's ability to function and are an important cause of missed school days and activities.
On this page:
- Indicators
- About the Respiratory Diseases Indicators
- Data Sources and Methods - Respiratory Diseases
- Related Links
Indicators
H1: Children with asthma
Web update: 2025
Key Information
- In 2024, 6.5% of children had asthma.
- In 2024, 3.6% of children ages had one or more asthma attacks in the past year. The rate of asthma attacks increased in recent years following a decrease since 2011, when it was 5.5%.
- In 2024, 52% of children ages 0 to 17 years with asthma had one or more asthma attacks in the past year, a decrease since 2001 when approximately 62% of children with asthma had one or more attacks in the past year.
Data Characterization
Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has asthma, if the child has had an asthma attack in the past year, and if the child currently has asthma.
H2: Children with asthma, by race/ethnicity and family income
Web update: 2025
Key Information
- In 2021–2024, 8.5% of children living in families below the poverty line had asthma compared to 6.1% of children living in families at or above the poverty level.
- In 2021–2024, 7.3% of boys ages 0 to 17 years had asthma, which was higher than the rate of 5.6% in girls.
- In 2021-2024, children ages 11 to 17 years, regardless of sex, had the highest reported rate of asthma at 8.3%. The second highest reported rate was 7.8% for children ages 8 to 11 years.
Data Characterization
Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population.
A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has asthma, if the child has had an asthma attack in the past year, and if the child currently has asthma.
H3: Children's emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma and other respiratory causes
Web update: 2025
Key Information
Emergency Room Visits
- In 2022, the rate of emergency room visits for asthma was 86 visits per 10,000 children, compared to 114 visits per 10,000 children in 1996.
- In 2022, the rate of emergency room visits for all respiratory causes other than asthma was 674 visits per 10,000 children.
- Children’s emergency room visits for asthma and all other respiratory causes vary by race/ethnicity. For example, in 2019–2022, Black non-Hispanic children had a rate of 1,293 emergency room visits per 10,000 children which was higher than all other races/ethnicities.
Hospitalizations
- Between 1996 and 2010 (the last year data were collected), hospitalizations for asthma decreased from 30 per 10,000 children to 19 per 10,000 children.
- Between 1996 and 2010, hospitalizations for all respiratory causes other than asthma decreased from 60 per 10,000 children to 46 per 10,000 children.
Data Characterization
Data for this indicator are obtained from two surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The survey used to collect data on emergency room visits has been ongoing annually since 1992. The survey used to collect data on hospitalizations ran from 1965 to 2010.
Survey data are representative of U.S. population visits to emergency rooms and stays at non-federal hospitals.
The surveys collect data on physician diagnoses of patients in sampled hospitals, including diagnoses of asthma and other respiratory conditions.
The trends in the rates of emergency room visits for different respiratory disease categories may have been affected by changes in the International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes between the 9th revision used up to 2015 and the 10th revision used in 2016.
About the Respiratory Diseases Indicators
Respiratory diseases and illness, such as asthma and allergies, can greatly impair a child's ability to function and are an important cause of missed school days and activities. Symptoms of these respiratory conditions can include cough, wheeze, congestion, chest pain, shortness of breath, respiratory distress, and possibly death in the most extreme cases. Asthma is a particularly complex respiratory disease with both genetic and environmental factors, which interact to influence its development and severity.
Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to certain air pollutants may contribute to the onset of asthma in children, although studies relating to the exacerbation of pre-existing asthma are more common because they are easier to conduct. Four common air pollutants (particulate matter, ground-level ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides) have extensive evidence linking them to respiratory diseases in children. Pollution from traffic-related air pollutants, a mixture including particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, appears to pose threats to a child's respiratory system. Children can also be exposed to air pollution inside homes, schools, and other buildings. Indoor air pollutants from biological sources (such as mold, dust mites, or pet dander) can lead to allergic reactions, exacerbate existing asthma, and have been associated with the development of respiratory symptoms.
For historical and contextual information about respiratory diseases and these indicators, see the Respiratory Diseases section of America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition (pdf) .
Data Sources and Methods - Respiratory Diseases
The National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducts the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a series of annual U.S. national surveys of the health status of the non-institutionalized civilian population. The interviews are conducted in person at the participants’ homes by asking a parent or other knowledgeable household adult questions regarding the child’s health status, including asthma.
The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) and the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) are both conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. These surveys provide national data on emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The NHAMCS collects data for physician diagnoses for visits to hospital emergency rooms and outpatient departments, and the NHDS reports physician diagnoses for discharges from hospitals. The diagnoses in both surveys include asthma and a number of other respiratory conditions. Both surveys exclude federal and military hospitals and report patient demographic information.
- Detailed Methods for Indicators H1, H2, and H3 (pdf)
- Metadata for National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
- Metadata for National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS)
- Metadata for National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS)
Related Links
- U.S. EPA: Asthma
- U.S. EPA: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
- U.S. EPA: Air Quality: EPA's Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Asthma
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance United States, 2007
- Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health: Survey Results
- Health Effects Institute (HEI): Traffic-Related Air Pollution: A Critical Review of the Literature on Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS): The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General