In the study titled “Prevalence of respiratory diseases among children in Ludhiana” it was found that from 40-50 per cent of the children visiting the pediatricians show symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, asthma or frequent nasal symptoms related to allergies.

Dr Deepinder Singh from Lord Mahavira Homeopathic College and Hospital conducted the study on a randomly selected sample size of 2,000 city children from 10 schools and the primary school teachers were asked to fill up an open-ended questionnaire. Besides, responses of 50 pediatricians were also included in the study.

While pediatricians accepted that 40-50 per cent of children coming to them suffered from such diseases, the teachers also said that 15 per cent kids complained about respiratory problems which also affected their studies.

The study was released by Dr M.S. Kang, vice chancellor, PAU, in a function held at Deep Hospital and conducted by Dr Sarabjeet Singh, P.hd (Journalism).

“The vehicular pollution, mainly due to autorickshaws, followed by industrial pollution are the major reasons behind this high number of children suffering from respiratory problems. The other reasons include polluted waters, increased use of pesticide, food habits, lack of exercise and stress,” said Dr Deepinder.

The study found that the most prevalent respiratory diseases were bronchial asthma, allergic bronchitis and allergic rhinitis. Dr Deepinder said that initially air pollution did reversible and temporary damage to the lungs of children but if the children continued to breathe the same polluted air for a long period, damage may be permanent.

The 50 pediatricians, who answered the questionnaire, informed that the respiratory problems among the children had been constantly increasing for the last five years.

Also speaking on the release of the study, Dr Rajinder Gulati, senior paediatrician at ESIC Hospital, and state president of Indian Academy of Pediatricians, corroborated that annually 2.40 lakh asthma-related deaths were reported in 2005 alone. “Globally, the prevalence of asthma is 1-18 per cent in different regions and as per a projection asthma is set to increase by 20 per cent in the next 20 years,” he said.