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Asthma in Children

Pollution and obesity may be contributing to high death rates among African American children with asthma, who are six times as likely as white kids to die from breathing problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the overall death rate for childhood asthma has been dropping in the United States, it has not gone down for African American children, who are more likely to live in polluted or high-poverty neighborhoods. They are also less likely to benefit from public education about the disease or new advances in medical technology if they live in underserved areas.

According to the CDC, asthma is the third biggest reason children under the age of 15 end up in the hospital, and accounts for roughly 14 million days of school missed each year in the United States. While the death rate for asthma has been declining, the prevalence of the disease has actually been rising in recent years. Researchers believe this may be because children’s immune systems are weaker than they were 20 years ago and because they are less active and more obese.

For more information about childhood asthma, visit http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/children.htm.          

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org