Public Health wants to help families, children understand their asthma

The Local Office on Minority Health will be holding informational sessions later this month, specifically geared toward families with young children to help them understand their asthma and know what to do if their asthma acts up when they go back to school.

To connect with those younger children, health officials will be using a children’s book called “Why is Coco Orange?” to teach children how to manage their asthma, just like the chameleon in the book, whose asthma is acting up due to the air quality.

The picture book, which was published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, highlights asthma triggers and how to manage asthma, such as when the air quality is bad.

“It’s a great inviting book to learn some of the issues relates to asthma,” said Jasmine Young, project manager of the Local Office on Minority Health.

The book invites children to learn about air quality, including teaching about the ozone and pollution, and ways to check the air quality by showing an adult chameleon check AirNow.gov. The AirNow website reports the air quality by using the U.S. Air Quality Index, a color-coded index designed to communicate whether air quality is healthy or unhealthy.

“We want to make sure that they are well equipped when they go to school on how to control it, how to use their medication properly,” Young said.

There are two available time slots on July 25, one from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and one from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the West Branch Library located at 300 Abbey Ave. in Dayton.

The Local Office on Minority Health will be providing both the parents and the children resources on asthma.

“We talk about the rule of twos,” Thomas said. “If you need to use your quick rescue inhaler more than twice a week, or if you’re waking up at night short of breath more than twice a month, or if you’re needing to go to the emergency room or an urgent care for asthma care, then that’s a sign of poor asthma control.”

Socioeconomic reasons can also impact access to health care, Public Health said. Poverty and lack of doctors available in certain areas can be barriers to people seeking regular treatment for their asthma symptoms. Approximately 27.5% of Dayton residents are living in poverty, according to U.S. Census estimates.

The worst time of the year for asthma sufferers is September and in the fall due to factors like increased ragweed pollen and the spread of respiratory infections when children go back to school, Thomas said.

Around 25% of asthma-related hospital stays in children happen in September, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American. Dayton Public Schools has seen a significant number of its students suffer from asthma in recent years, including in 2019 when more than one in eight Dayton Public Schools students had asthma.

Other risk factors for asthma include exposure to air pollution, poor indoor air quality and/or housing quality, and smoking or exposure to smoking, including cigarettes, vapes and more, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

About 17% of people in Montgomery County and Ohio are smokers, according to Public Health’s Community Health Assessment. This is higher than the national rate of about 13% of people.

People living, working and learning within about 500 to 1,000 feet of highways are disproportionately subject to dirty air, according to the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization. Multiple highways intersection or pass through the Dayton region.

While the Miami Valley’s air quality is the best it has been in 50 years, says the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, transportation sources continue to be a significant contributor to pollution and greenhouse gases.

This exposure to highway pollution can cause health problems, including lung disease, stroke and premature birth, the Urban Institute says. In the U.S., a disproportionate share of people of color and people with low incomes live near highways, the institute says.

To sign up for one of the July 25 events being offered by the Local Office on Minority Health, contact Jasmine Young by calling 937-225-4962 or emailing jlyoung@phdmc.org.