A poll conducted by Curofy, an online community of doctors, which was released on Tuesday on World Asthma Day, noted that children in India are at an increased risk of Asthma, primarily due to rising pollution levels.
Asthma is a chronic respiratory inflammatory condition that affects people of all ages and groups. The poll highlighted that recent public health studies indicated 7.24 percent of the children in India are at an increased risk of asthma.
It further said that prevalence of childhood asthma in India has risen in last 10 years.
There are 300 million people suffering from asthma worldwide of which one-tenth are living in India, according to an official statement.
About 1,040 doctors from India participated in Curofy's latest poll, which was aimed at ascertaining the reasons of the childhood asthma in the country. Approximately 82 percent of the doctors attributed the environmental pollution to the increased level of asthma among children.
The other factors responsible for causing asthma among children are smoking and genetic predisposition, in addition to the allergies to environmental pollution.
"More than a million people are suffering from asthma, common among all age groups. However, the increasing number of asthma cases is due to recent changes in our global environment. Air pollution and particulate dust matters are on a rise," Anshum Aneja Arora, consultant at W-Pratiksha hospital in Gurgaon, said.
Doctors said that asthma's prevalence among children is of particular concern as they may not be aware of the precautions needed to tackle the disease.
"Self management is a necessity among asthma patients. Young children may not necessarily understand the chronic nature of their disease or how asthma is affecting their lives in a negative manner," Sandeep Nayar from BLK Hospital in New Delhi, said.
He added that the onus lies on parents to educate their children about the disease and teach them the steps followed in case of emergency.
