As a consumer health writer, I worked on a website for parents of very young children with asthma. We had to use the phrase "breathing problems" more prominently in the site, however, than asthma, because asthma is hard to definitely diagnose in infants and very young kids.

After all, they can't really describe how they are feeling, and spirometry can't be accurately used in such young children. You really need to be age 6 or older and able to breathe in deeply and blow out all the air to use spirometry with success. However, doctors at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh recently announced that they have been using a test called "oscillometry" to diagnose asthma in children as young as age 3. This test is able to measure lung function through "normal" breathing and doesn't require any special skill.

When doctors can pinpoint a diagnosis of asthma, then they can treat the disease with more confidence—and more success.

Since 9 milliion or so children in the US have asthma and the majority of them develop it earlier than age 5, this is an important development for asthma diagnosis. If you think that your child may have some of the symptoms of asthma, then you may want to talk with your doctor about how to get your child evaluated.

More: About Oximetry | Asthma in Kids Basics