Growing up in a big city may not be a major factor in whether a child develops asthma, according to a new study that contradicts assumptions about the so-called inner-city asthma epidemic.
Instead, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that being poor, black or Puerto Rican were the most important factors that determine a child's asthma risk.
"Our results highlight the changing face of paediatric asthma and suggest that living in an urban area is, by itself, not a risk factor for asthma," said Dr Corinne Keet, an asthma specialist at Johns Hopkins, whose study was published this week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Although prior studies have looked at asthma rates within specific cities, no study has compared asthma rates in inner city areas across the US, or looked at how asthma compares in other types of communities, Keet said.
The researchers used national survey data on more than 23000 children aged six to 17 between 2009 and 2011. The team looked at rates of asthma based on population figures, as well as factors such as income, race and ethnicity.
They found no statistically significant difference in the rates of asthma between inner-city children and those who lived elsewhere.
Instead, they found black or Puerto Rican children had far higher asthma rates, at 17% and 20%, respectively, compared with white children (10 %), Hispanic children (9%) and Asian children (8%).
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