Air pollution choking children in urban India: Survey

Air pollution is choking children across cities in India triggering a spread of asthma, according to a surveyof school children in urban India. Around 35 per cent of school-going children in India suffer from poor lung health caused mainly by pollution, a survey has revealed.

The survey carried out in four cities revealed that children in Delhi were the worst-affected with 40 per cent of them falling in the category of poor and bad health.

Bangalore comes second with 36 per cent of the children suffering from bad lungs while in Kolkata the figure is 35 per cent and in Mumbai 27 per cent.

The survey, released on the eve of World Asthma Day, is a part of Clean Air India Movement and is the result of a survey of 2,000 school students in the age group of 8-14 across major cities of the county.

Conducted by the HEAL Foundation, the survey, based on a preliminary lung health screening test (LHST), was carried out on 2,000 children in the age group of nine to 15 years across cities as part of the 'Breathe Blue 2015' campaign.

The survey was carried out in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru in the last three months.

"Around 35 per cent school going children in India suffer from poor lung health confirming the worst fears due to rising air pollution and deteriorating air quality," Manjari Chandra, representative of the foundation, said while presenting the findings.

She said children in the national capital are the worst affected with a total of 40 per cent in the "poor" and "bad" zone in the test.

Children in Bengaluru came next at 36 per cent, while Kolkata ranked third at 35 per cent and Mumbai lowest at 27 per cent.