Self-reported asthma among high school students--United States, 2003

Asthma is a leading chronic illness among children in the United States. To examine self-reported asthma and asthma attacks among U.S. high school students, CDC analyzed data from the 2003 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that 18.9% of high school students had been told by a doctor or nurse that they had asthma, 16.1% had current asthma, and 37.9% of those with current asthma had had an episode of asthma or an asthma attack during the 12 months preceding the survey. These findings underscore the need for health-care providers, schools, families, and public health practitioners to be prepared to respond to asthma-related emergencies and to help students manage their asthma.