Asthma is considered the most common chronic childhood disease.Our study assess the prevalence and severity of asthma symptoms in school–age children and adolescents living in Raipur. Cross–sectional transversal study using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. The sample comprised students of 6, 7, 13 and 14 years of age. One group of 2335 students between the ages of 6 and 7 and another composed of 4042 students between the ages of 13 and 14 were evaluated. The prevalence of wheezing within the last 12 months in the younger children was 27.7%, vs. 19% among the adolescents (p < 0.0001). There was a predominance of males in the 6–7 age group (29.9% vs. 25.6%; p = 0.01) and of females in the 13–14 age group (21.9% vs. 15.8%; p< 0.0001). The proportion of previously diagnosed cases of asthma was similar (approximately 10%) for both age brackets. Wheezing upon physical exertion was more prevalent among the adolescents (21.4% vs. 7.8%; p < 0.0001). Symptom severity was higher among female adolescents (severe asthma: 6.6% vs. 4.4%; p = 0.001), although no differences among genders were seen in the 6–7 age group. Asthma prevalence Values are higher in the 6–7 age group, in which symptoms were seen predominantly in males. Among the adolescents, the prevalence and severity of symptoms were higher in females, a recent observation that seems to be a new epidemiological trend of asthma.