While pollution still hasn't been found to cause asthma, it has increased at the same rate and it does make the symptoms worse. There is an organization called the EPA which daily checks the quality of the air all over the United States. This data is then published in newspapers, on the internet and radio and TV. Look for the AQI, or air quality index in the weather sections. This uses a scale from 0 to 500. When it is more than 100 the air is considered to be unsafe. Pollution levels are also connected to the ozone layer. This used to be big news but the media seems to have gotten a bit bored of it recently, so it is not in the news much. But the problem is still there, which is why pollution levels are higher when it is hotter.

Another alarming study shows that children are smoking younger and younger than ever. This is the result of advertising, fashion, bad parenting, lax law enforcement, but pass every school and you'll get fifteen year old girls and boys with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. This didn't happen in the past, but back then children didn't have the money to buy cigarettes in the first place. These are just two factors in the increase of asthma in children, but there are more.

Smoking during pregnancy causes asthma in children, along with lots of other health problems. Why it hasn't been made illegal I don't know. But perhaps the most surprising reason for asthma in children is hygiene. Because we are more concerned with the cleanliness of our homes and children than we were a century ago, our immune systems are not as properly developed as they should be. In the past, with dirt all over the place and bacteria rampant, our immune systems had to be stronger. We should also take into account the vast number of cleaning products available these days. All are full of toxic chemicals that are known to trigger asthma attacks. Hell, you can even make bombs out of some of them! If you want a really clean home, then the first things to throw away are the cleaning products. The best cleaning products on the market today are good old-fashioned sodium bicarbonate and vinegar! These are just some of the reasons why asthma in children has grown so much over recent years. The question now is what do we do to reverse them?