Parents are being warned to be more vigilant as a new report showing increasing numbers of Māori/Pacific Island children being hospitalised for the disease.
The Massey University report found an increase of 45% in the rates of Kiwi children hospitalised with asthma from 2002 to 2016.
Asthma hospitalisation rates were highest among Pacific (1314 per 100,000) and Māori (827 per 100,000) children.
The report shows more than 6,000 children under the age of 15 were hospitalised with asthma in 2016.
Around 70 people die from the disease each year in New Zealand.