Time outdoor play
Keep children indoors in the early morning and evening, when smog is worst.
Diagnosis, inhaler training and long-term control for children with wheezing, recurrent cough and allergies – so they can breathe, sleep and play freely, even through Delhi NCR’s winter smog.
Asthma is a long-term condition in which the airways become swollen and narrow, causing cough, wheezing and breathlessness. It often starts in childhood and runs in families with asthma, eczema or allergies.
With the right treatment and a clear action plan, most children with asthma live completely normal, active lives – including sport.
No. Many children under 5 wheeze only with viral colds and outgrow it. Others have true asthma.
Dr. Neha looks at the pattern – how often, what triggers it, family history and eczema – to tell the two apart and avoid both over-treatment and under-treatment.
From October to January, poor air quality in Noida and Greater Noida triggers flare-ups in many children. On high-AQI days:
Keep children indoors in the early morning and evening, when smog is worst.
Close windows during peak smog; use an air purifier in the bedroom if possible.
No firecracker, incense, mosquito-coil or cigarette smoke near your child.
Don’t stop preventer medicines in smog season unless advised.
Inhalers are the safest and most effective way to treat asthma, because the medicine goes straight to the lungs in tiny amounts. Used with a spacer (and a mask for young children), an inhaler works as well as a nebulizer and is quicker and portable.
Inhalers are not addictive. Dr. Neha teaches the correct technique at the clinic – good technique is half the treatment.
Opens the airways quickly during symptoms.
Taken daily by some children to prevent attacks.
What to do on green (well), yellow (worse) and red (emergency) days.
Every 3 to 6 months, stepping treatment up or down.
Allergy tests are useful only when chosen carefully – Dr. Neha advises which, if any, your child needs.
Sneezing, runny or blocked nose and itchy eyes, often seasonal.
Dry, itchy, red skin patches – common in babies.
Reactions to milk, egg, peanut, nuts, wheat, soy or seafood – from hives to vomiting.
Large local swelling or a body-wide rash.
Go to the nearest hospital emergency immediately. For non-urgent advice, call or WhatsApp +91 98184 07725.
Short, clear answers to the questions parents ask Dr. Neha most often. Your own child’s situation is always best discussed in person.
Ask on WhatsAppMany children who wheeze only with colds improve as they grow. Some continue into adulthood. Good control now protects lung growth.
No. An inhaler with a spacer works as well for most children and is faster and easier to carry.
Yes. With good control – and a reliever before exercise if advised – children with asthma can play any sport.
Pollution triggers attacks and worsens asthma, and long-term exposure may contribute to developing it.
Every 3 to 6 months, and before and after the winter smog season.
MBBS, MD (Paediatrics) · Pediatrician & Neonatologist
Dr. Neha is a pediatrician and neonatologist with 15+ years of clinical experience, including newborn and paediatric care at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, ESIC Hospital Noida, Cloudnine and Yashoda. She consults at her clinics in Noida Sector 76 and Greater Noida West, and online.
An asthma review, inhaler training and a written action plan – in Noida Sector 76 or Greater Noida West.
