Child Asthma Rates Stabilizing but Remain the Same in Older Children

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About 8.3% of American children and 7% of American adults have asthma, according to the CDC, and the age group with the highest number among children is the 5 to 14 age group.

A new study coming from the CDC and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics has discovered, however, that rates of childhood asthma have leveled off, except among poor children and kids aged 10 to 17, HealthDay reports. The study was published in the journal "Pediatrics," and researchers analyzed data from the 2001 to 2013 National Health Interview Survey, including records from more than 150,000, to determine the prevalence of asthma among children from the time they were born to when they reached the age of 17.

According to WebMD, researchers found that the rates of asthma among children who are living in families with income below the poverty level and kids aged 10 to 17 have increased from 2001 and 2013.

Interestingly, Puerto Rican children had the highest prevalence of asthma compared to other groups. However, the prevalence of asthma remained the same among Puerto Rican children and white children between the period of 2011 and 2013.

Researchers have also found that the racial disparity in asthma rates between white and African-American children has stopped increasing. In fact, black children were 30% more at risk for asthma than white children. in 2001, and the rate had risen to over 100%.

Yahoo! News reports that according to lead study author Dr. Lara Akinbami of the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, "International data on asthma prevalence over time shows that trends appear to be leveling off in many countries, and suggests that the trend in the United States seems to be following a general pattern."

"Trends in childhood asthma have recently stopped increasing," Dr. Akinbami explained. "This is mainly due to the leveling off of prevalence among black children, who previously had large increases in the prevalence of asthma. However, more years of data are needed to clarify if asthma prevalence among children will continue to decline, or if it will plateau around current levels."

Dr. Avni Joshi of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in the study, commented that "There is a vicious cycle of poverty and obesity which may also contribute to the risk of development and persistence of asthma. In addition, children in poor households experience higher psychosocial stress, which is another risk factor for asthma."

For more information, visit the online journal "Pediatrics."