Children who live in poverty are at an increased risk for developing asthma.
According to the National Medical Association (NMA), children who live in poverty are 60 percent more likely to develop asthma in their lifetimes than children whose families have a higher income. There are many different factors for why this occurs
Dr. Michael LeNoir of the NMA has worked with asthma patients in poor areas of the country for years, and notices the disturbing health trends among the populations of these places. Most of the factors that lead to children getting asthma, he says, are purely environmental.
“It’s been demonstrated many times that environments where you have poor nutrition, where you have violence, where you’re constantly exposed to environmental factors such as air pollution, then you’re going to have increased incidence of asthma,” Dr. LeNoir said in a report.
Another contributing factor is smoking. Many who reside in impoverished places in the country smoke cigarettes on a daily basis, which only serves to worsen symptoms. Low income housing is often not properly managed or regulated and can contain many different allergens. Housing that contains a greater amount of environmental pollutants such as dust, or even bugs like cockroaches, will cause children to develop a reaction or make their existing asthma even poorer.
Asthma is also cause for concern for those in poverty because of inadequate access to affordable healthcare. Dr. LeNoir works in the southeastern part of Washington, D.C., which is one of the poorest areas of the country. He says the issue is that when parents can afford to have their children see a doctor, they will often stop coming in for treatment at the first sign of health improvement, when they should continue seeking help.
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