Swimming aids asthma children

Friday August 21st, 2009

Taking up swimming may offer children with asthma many benefits, doctors have reported.

Swimming may reduce the severity of asthma while offering a child a chance to improve their general fitness, according to a study in the journal Respirology.

The conclusions come from a study involving some 30 children and teenagers with asthma.

Doctors in Taiwan decided to test the benefits of swimming after earlier research found it was unlikely to trigger asthma attacks, especially compared with other sports.

During the research, 15 of the children took part in a six-week swimming programme.

Researchers said there were across the board improvements, including in absence from school, hospital visits, asthma severity and snoring.

Researcher Wang Jeng-Shing, from the Taipei Medical University, said: "Not only is swimming an excellent form of exercise for children with asthma, the health benefits reaped continued to be observed for at least a year after the completion of the swimming program.

"In addition to improving asthma, swimming promotes normal physical and psychological development, such as increasing lung volume, developing good breathing techniques and improving general fitness."

He added: "Unlike other sports, swimming is unlikely to provoke asthma attacks."

Respirology Volume 14 Issue 6, Pages 838 - 842

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Asia | Child Health | Respiratory

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