Asthma affects millions of people every day, and the condition can be especially challenging for children who must learn to cope with the breathing difficulties associated with asthma.
About two dozen south county kids, ages 7 to 12, are breathing a little easier today after attending a one-day camp. They spent the day at the Joe Orduno Youth Center learning how to live a normal, active life with asthma.
Camp activities included kickball, basketball and Zumba with educational sessions held in between. Campers are taught to take control of their asthma by learning how and when to use their inhalers, and how to recognize the warning signs of a full asthma attack before it happens.
"The major goal of the camp is to empower the camper and let them know they're able to just run around in the dirt and play, just as well as any normal kid, if they control their asthma, which is what we're doing here with the camp, where we have an educational component and we also like to make it fun with plays and different activities that reinforce the educational component," explains health educator Alex Valenzuela.
10-year-old camper Victor Sanchez shares part of his new education, "When you start getting asthma you have to take the medicine and ... if you don't find your medicine, so like relax, sit down and inhale and exhale."
Camp Not-A-Choo is hosted by the Regional Center for Border Health.
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