Asthma is a serious condition that inflames the lungs and airways, making it difficult for a child to breathe. It can be triggered by physical activity or environmental factors. Asthma causes physical and social challenges that may result in a lowered potential for learning, fatigue, or an overall feeling of frustration. Children with asthma have lower attendance rates at school and visit the emergency room more frequently. Asthma is more common among certain populations, including low-income children and racial minorities, with lack of access to health care and substandard housing conditions thought to play a role.

In Worcester County, 12% (or about 10,300) children in grades K-8 had asthma in 2018, the same as the state rate. Both the County and state rates have remained essentially unchanged since 2010.

Among local areas, Southbridge had the highest rate at 26% in 2018, while Paxton and Bolton had the lowest at 4% and 5% respectively.

School nurses gather this information annually from students' school health record, physician reports, and parent information forms. A variety of factors can impact asthma rates, including socioeconomic factors. Therefore, when comparing rates across geographic areas, information such as access to medical care must also be considered. The figures are not age-adjusted, so some of the differences may be due to differences in the age distribution of students in each community.

Data for some areas are not shown due to low case counts.