Last updated on 10/08/2020

This week, 12 August is International Youth Day and we want to talk all things youth and asthma, particularly the impact of having asthma as a teenager or young adult and addressing some of the stigmas that come with it. 

People with asthma no matter what age, face a variety of challenges when it comes to health and wellbeing. Like all people with asthma, young people with asthma face direct physical impacts of their condition, as well as social, psychological, and functional impacts. These are often heightened by developmental challenges posed by adolescence.

A survey on youth and asthma conducted as part of the National Young People and Asthma Strategy (NYPAS) highlighted a few areas of concern for people with asthma aged between 12- 25 years, including: 

  • Most young people (63%) had poor asthma control, with 90% of young people reporting experiencing shortness of breath at least once a week in the last four weeks.  
  • This leads to a broader impact on the quality of life, with 56% of young people reporting asthma hinders their enjoyment of life to some degree. 
  • 42% of young people had to miss school, university, TAFE or work in the previous 12 months because of their asthma 
  • Only 60% of young people reported taking their preventer medication every day and only half had a written Asthma Action Plan 
  • 12% of young people reported they currently smoked. 

As you can see above, there is a lot of work to be done for young people with asthma and we are here to help every age group to live their life, to breathe easy. Not just to live, but to have a full and empowered life, striving for goals and achieving them. A life without limits. 

When you’re a young person with asthma, or you have a child with asthma – we’re here. 

This International Youth Day we want to get young people talking about asthma, we want to create awareness and educate young people on the seriousness and complex nature of asthma. We want all people with asthma to feel confident in their asthma management. To do this, we have a bunch of things we are sharing with you this week, from tools and resources to apps, and real stories from a few of our Asthma Champions sharing their experiences of what it is like to be a young person with asthma. 

To help us understand what it’s like to be a young person with asthma, this week we are asking you to share how asthma impacts you day to day by tagging us (@AsthmaAustralia) in your social media posts or stories to capture ‘A day in the life of someone with asthma’.  

By sharing your story with us, we can learn more about the issues impacting you to better support young people with asthma. 

Another blog you may be interested in reading is Youth Stigmas and Asthma – the stigma that asthma is not cool!