Objective To investigate the prevalence rate and risk factors for asthma in children who were aged from 0~14 years old of Tongan district of Xiamen in 2012-2013, and to provide scientific evidence for the prevention and treatment of childhood asthma. Methods A multistage stratified cluster sampling survey of 10 168 children aged 0~14 years old from the Tongan district of Xiamen was conducted to investigate the prevalence rate of childhood asthma using the Third National Childhood Asthma Epidemiological Questionnaire 2010.A case-control study (1∶1) and logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the risk factors for childhood asthma. Results Of the 10 168 children surveyed, 428 were diagnosed with asthma, with a total prevalence rate of 4.21%.The prevalence rate was higher in males than in females (5.88% vs 2.28%, P＜0.01).Of the 428 cases, 74.76% had their first asthma attack before the age of 3, 85.61% suffered from asthma caused by respiratory infection, 95.20% had sneezing as the sign of oncoming attack, 68.25% had mild attacks, 78.50% had sudden attacks, 50.60% suffered from asthma during periods of seasonal change, and 71.45% had attacks at early morning and night.The case-control study ( including the 428 asthma cases and 428 healthy children) and Logistic regression analysis both showed that the independent risk factors for asthma in children include:a personal history of allergy, allergic rhinitis, a family history of allergy, and a family history of asthma. Conclusions The prevalence rate of asthma in children aged 0~14 years old in the Tongan district is higher than that of the prevalence rate in Xiamen 10 years earlier.The prevalence rate of childhood asthma is higher in males than that in females.A personal history of allergy, allergic rhinitis, a family history of allergy and a family history of asthma are the independent risk factors for childhood asthma in this region.