RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The use of inhaled corticosteroids in the wheezy under 5-year-old child JF Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition JO Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP 61 OP 66 DO 10.1136/adc.2009.171272 VO 96 IS 2 A1 B R Davies A1 W D Carroll YR 2011 UL http://ep.bmj.com/content/96/2/61.abstract AB Inhaled corticosteroids are established as the most effective long-term anti-inflammatory therapy for asthma. National and international treatment guidelines recommend the use of these agents for long-term asthma control in children. In children <5 years, there are significant difficulties in diagnosing asthma. There are multiple non-asthma causes of wheeze, and there remains a lack of consensus in the description of wheezing phenotypes in this group of children. There is also a relative paucity of data concerning the short- and long-term effectiveness and side-effects in the under-fives: treatment recommendations have drawn heavily from experience of asthma treatment in school-age children and remains controversial. This article discusses the important recent advances in the evidence-base and current expert opinions which are helping to delineate improved outcomes for young children with wheeze.