Tauranga three-year-old Chloe Crump doesn't go one day without coughing. She has good days and bad. But the cough is always there.

Mum Rachel Crump knew something wasn't right when Chloe was about five months old.

Rachel and Chloe Crump reckon breathing better is helped by exercise. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

'She was coughing, wheezing and short of breath.” A cold had progressed into a thick cough.

Rachel took Chloe to the doctor, who diagnosed her with childhood bronchiolitis – a chest infection caused by a virus that affects bronchioles, the small breathing tubes in the lungs, causing babies and small children to cough, wheeze and have trouble breathing.

It's a common infection in the first year of life, especially in babies under six months of age.

'I'd never heard of bronchiolitis before but it's quite common,” says Rachel, who with husband Aaron Crump and eight-year-old brother Andrew saw Chloe put on a preventer medication at age one.

'She'd be very irritable, wouldn't eat, and wouldn't drink properly. She was admitted to hospital a few times.”

And from then on whenever Chloe's caught a cold or been exposed to irritants such as smoke – the family doesn't smoke – or temperature changes, she starts coughing and getting wheezy.

So by age two, the Greerton toddler was formally diagnosed with asthma. But things took another turn last month. Chloe was diagnosed with bronchiectasis while at Starship children's hospital.

Bronchiectasis is a lung condition where the breathing tubes called bronchi in the lungs have been damaged, enlarged and scarred – primarily due to infection. It causes mucus to build up in the extra space. She also had her tonsils removed last year to treat sleep apnoea.

'She's still a happy wee thing,” says Rachel, who now ensures Chloe gets twice-daily chest physio.

'She's also just finished four weeks' antibiotics, which she has frequently to prevent infection progressing. If these don't work then intravenous antibiotics are used during the course of two weeks,” says Rachel. 'She has days when she's quite well and runs around. 'But she gets more tired than normal children, she's definitely more prone to chest infections and has a daily cough, which is part of it as well.”

And Rachel appreciates the support she receives from the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, which has begun Breathe Better September – the first-ever respiratory awareness month in New Zealand.

Breathe Better September is for Kiwis to show support for better breathing and healthy lungs, while encouraging everyone to make small changes in day-to-day life, to make a big difference on their breathing.

'New Zealand has one of the highest rates of respiratory disease in the world. However, it is not highly profiled and many people don't realise the extent of the problem,” says the foundation.

'More than 700,000 Kiwis have a respiratory condition, it's the third leading cause of death and costs the country $5.5 billion each year.”

The foundation recommends eating well, being active and being smokefree are key ingredients for a healthy life, and is also very important to reduce the symptoms or risk of respiratory disease.

Rachel agrees. 'Swimming and exercise as actually an important part to helping keep Chloe well because it increases the fitness and keeps the lungs healthy.

'If she is well we do as much as we can with her – and she still goes to preschool.”

And despite her fair share of tests, pokes and prods – and seven hospital admissions this year – Chloe's pretty happy, says Rachel. 'She's definitely very assertive wee girl, knows what she wants. A typical little girl.”

'With Chloe receiving aggressive treatment and keeping up with physio it will slow the progression of the condition and enable her to lead a relatively normal life.” To learn more about Breathe Better September, see: www.asthmafoundation.org.nz