According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 6.8 million – or 9.3 percent – of American children have asthma. With this disease so prevalent in our society, you might think that there are plans in place to ensure kids' safety at home and at school, but that simply is not the case.
A new study, which focused on Chicago-based school systems, found that most children with asthma or food allergies did not have a health management form on file. A health management form, or a 504 plan, is a year-long and sometimes day-to-day plan for children with severe asthma or allergy symptoms. It outlines a schedule of medications or trigger warnings for children and adults to look out for and indicates proper protocol for dealing with an acute attack.
The data collected was based on a study of more than 400,000 students ages three through 18, including 18,287 that suffered from asthma and 4,250 that had food allergies. Of those who had asthma, only a quarter of them had a 504 plan in place. Additionally, only half of those students with a food allergy had a plan on file.
"If a school doesn't have (a health management plan) on file, there's nothing they can do besides call 911. Even if they have albuterol, they can't give it because they don't have authorization from the parents," said chief medical officer for Children's Health Fund in New York City, Dr. Delaney Gracy, in a statement to Reuters Health.
When it comes to keeping your child safe, having open lines of conversation with their teachers and school staff is a great first step. From there, discussing the options for allergy control products and prevention.
