Educational and exercise programs for asthmatic children.

We designed programs to teach appropriate exercises to asthmatic children and to educate their parents about their special needs. Each of 11 programs over a six-year period included a weekly two-hour session for four weeks. Lectures for parents dealt with the etiology and precipitating events of asthma, environmental control and drug therapy, family interaction with a psychiatrist, and hyposensitization therapy and food allergy. The 59 children, aged 4 to 13, played group games, learned breathing exercises, and were assisted by their parents in postural drainage. School absences decreased in 59%, emergency room visits decreased in 70%, medication usage decreased in 54%, and the number of attacks decreased in 70%. Greater understanding of asthma by both parents and children improved the quality of life and lessened the severity of the disease.