Asthma in Children

I've just read an article in the newspaper about asthmatic problem among children. I just browsed through the indicator of asthma, positive symptom of astham, prevention methods and what foods are good to prevent asthma among children.

How do parents determine if their child is asthmatic?

1. Continuous coughing during nights
2. Continuous coughing when engaging with vigorous activities (playing, laughing, crying)
3. Shortness of breath
4. Fast breathing
5. Wheezing ( whistling sound occurs when a child breath)

While the strongest risk factor that will develop asthma:

1. Family history
2. Allergy (eczema, rhinitis)
3. Exposure during infancy to high levels of antigen ( house dust mites, tobacco smoke, chemical irritants)

The article also add that asthma is unique to each person, different child will get asthma from different trigger factor. Even, asthma can be triggered by negative emotions such as fear & anxiety.

Prevention is indeed better than cure. What can we do to prevent asthma?

One of the first vaccination any child gets comes from Breastfeeding, which becomes an infant BEST prevention of asthma.

What should they eat??

A proper diet of fresh fruits, greens rich in anti-oxidant, extra virgin oil, garlic onions and oily fish rich in polysaturated fats, would help treat asthma in children. The peaditrician in the article also stated that, " yet parents ought to realise, it's the maintenance of medication from six months up to three years that affects the overall wellness of the child " - Dr Azam M Nor - Pantai Medical Center

Without I realising it, I really did my job quite well all this while. I thought I've been the worst mother in the world. At least, I breastfed the babies, now become toddlers, and still breastfed the little one and wish to continue for another 11 months at least (Ya Allah, bantulah aku melaksanakan niat ku ini...Ameen) I was really strict on my children diets when they are under 1 year old. Only me determined what should they eat. But with the 2nd child, I lost!

I am actually gets little courage to be really2 stern when dealing with babysitter. I've always get babysitters that are about my mom's age. And it is really difficult to tell things to these people where, my request might not come easy for them.

All I can do is, i kept preparing the meal for Asif, Aqil, I already let him have what he wants except, I am fully control on sugary intake. In fact, I do scold him if he wanted more than what I have given.

I do hope that I will manage to prepare a good condition room for Aqil. He doesn't want to sleep in his room, so I guess, I need to rearrange the master bedroom a bit to get cosy. (Sempitlahh Putravilla ni...)