As much as parents strive to keep their children healthy, some factors are outside of their control. They can make sure they eat right and encourage them to exercise, but the environment and genetics can both affect a child's health and wellness despite a parent's best efforts. For many parents, their child's development of asthma is one such problem. 

Asthma is the most common chronic pediatric medical condition in the United States, where it affects one in 10 kids. While parents have a number of options for managing the problem, there is some hope for recovery in the long term. Based on a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, 20 percent of children may overcome asthma in adulthood. This differs depending on the sex of the child and his or her specific type of asthma. For example, children are less likely to overcome fur allergies, and the condition is more likely to persist in girls than it is boys. 

The study noted that while doctors are unlikely to say that a child no longer suffers from asthma, many will say that the disease is in remission after a prolonged period without any symptoms. Patients were considered to be in remission if they did not use asthma medication for 12 months. 

"This study can give parents some hope, but there's no guarantee for any child," said Jennifer Appleyard, M.D. 

The condition may not be fully outside a parent's control
However, there are a few ways parents can minimize the effects of asthma on their children. Kids who stay fit are less likely to suffer some of the worse problems associated with the disease. Recent findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that obese children are 1.16 to 1.37 times more at risk of developing asthma than other kids, and the chance increases with a higher body-mass index. Obese girls between 6 and 10 years old were especially vulnerable to the affliction, who were 1.36 to 1.56 times more likely than their peers to develop the disease. 

Asthma symptoms were especially pronounced among obese children, and overweight kids usually had to use their inhaler more often than other asthma sufferers. Researchers also suspected that body fat plays a role in inflammation, and that the additional stress placed on a child's chest by the extra weight could also worsen the condition. 

The study took advantage of Kaiser Permanente's database of 623,358 children when establishing the link between asthma and weight. 

"When they have difficulty breathing, it seems more extreme to them than to kids with normal weight," said Mary Helen Black, Ph.D., a research scientist biostatistician at Kaiser Permanente. 

Because of this, researchers suggested that parents and physicians should watch for asthma symptoms in overweight children. Families can also motivate their children to exercise more often and eat healthy meals, which should minimize the risk of developing the condition.