AAFA Reports You Should Read – State “Honor Roll” for Schools, Fall Allergy Capitals

Don’t miss the Asthma and Allergy Foundation’s 2008 Fall Allergy Capitals in last Friday’s links. If you’re new to asthma or have no idea what the AAFA’s allergy capitals lists are, here’s a quick primer:

Every year, the AAFA calculates which U.S. cities will probably pose the most problems for allergy sufferers and/or allergic asthma patients during the spring and fall allergy seasons. The group bases its rankings on pollen scores and number of allergy meds and allergy specialists per patient, per area. If your metro area doesn’t make the list, that doesn’t mean you’ll have a challenge-free allergy season, of course. But chances are pretty good you’ll have an easier time than a resident in the allergic 100.

While the AAFA publishes new allergy capital lists every year, 2008 marks the first time it’s released the State Honor Roll Report. According to the site,

This report identifies states with the most comprehensive and preferred state-wide public policies supporting people with asthma, food allergies and related allergic diseases in U.S. elementary, middle and high schools. The goal of this report is to provide a blueprint for asthma and allergy advocates in all states to help recognize and develop better school-based policies and practices. – AAFA 2008 State Honor Roll

The AAFA worked with the research, medical, and advocacy communities to judge which states met at least 15 of 18 asthma and allergy policy standards in schools. These states “made” the honor roll:

Connecticut
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington

Here’s where the report can help you advocate for better school policies in your own state. You can download the full report, read profiles of each honor state, see where the schools in your area fall short, and even print out AAFA resources to help you advocate for better policies in those schools.

In fact, I’ve already checked out the scores for Colorado, where we’ll be moving the first week of November. It checks in at a fairly respectable 11 out of 18, although two of those missing standards are for indoor and outdoor air quality. Clearly, I’ll be reading more before we move and the girls start school there.

Check out your own state here.