What are you doing, personally, to ensure that the air that your kids breathe is healthy air. I know, you think the government is going everything that needs to be done about this issue. But, many states still have real air pollution problems. While our urban areas tend to be the hardest hit, they are by no means the only parts of the county with less than stellar air quality.

True, children who are raised in the inner city often suffer from childhood asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Some experts believe that the elevated rates of disease in the urban areas is in part related to contaminants and air pollution often found in urban areas. The American Lung association recently prepared a report concerning minority lung disease and has advocated that community groups zealously fight to protect their local air quality.

While poorer communities may be disproportionately affected, everyone with children needs to watch them outdoors and look for signs of undiagnosed respiratory illness. According to the Lung Association, this may include coughing, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

Children with asthma may be prone to certain triggers. A trigger is an activity or a substance that causes an asthma outbreak to occur. People tend to have their own particular triggers, ranging from exercise, to insect excrement, to foods or substances that cause an allergic response, such as pollen.

Ozone in the air can make conditions worse for sufferers. So, if your child has asthma, you may be better off keeping him or her indoors on high ozone level days. Many parts of the country report on air quality. If air pollution levels are reported to be high, you may want to reduce outdoor time as well.

For children with breathing problems, the Lung Association suggests that strenuous activity be planned for the morning hours, before pollutant levels rise. It also suggests that activities be located far from roadways and other polluting sources.

Of course, for many children, relocation of outdoor activities is often easier said than done. If their school or home is next to a highway of factory, realistically, where are they going to go?

Tell your child's caregivers, teachers, coaches, about his or her medical needs. They cannot avoid problems if they are not aware of the potential dangers.

There is something else that you can do to protect your child, which will not only make his or her air cleaner, but will also make him or her a better citizen. Become involved in your community and speak out, yourself.

Don't rely on local leaders to speak out the next time they propose a sewage treatment facility in your community. Become involved yourself. Read up on these issues. A wealth of information is available on the internet, including free data banks that identify local polluters in every U.S. community.

Actively seek out and then support local politicians who have proven that they care about your community's air quality and environmental well-being. Environmental health decisions tend to be at least as much politically-based, as they are health and science based. If your community is perceived as a quiet, uninformed community, you will receive one kind of treatment. If you are perceived as a group of in-the know, vocal, voters and supporters, you will be perceived in quite another manner.

Getting involved will help your child because it will keep the community healthier. It will also help your child because he or she will learn that everyone can make a difference.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.