Persistent residential segregation may contribute to high rates of asthma among black children, according to a new study by Princeton University.
Black children in the U.S. are twice as likely as other children to develop asthma, and past research attributed some of this disparity to low birth weight. However, two Princeton-affiliated researchers found low birth weight by itself does not cause asthma.
The study compared low-birth-weight children of all races and ethnicities that lived in New Jersey ZIP codes in which 50 percent of residents are African American. For the study, the two Princeton-affiliated researchers, Janet M. Currie and Dianne Alexander, PhD, used records of all children born to mothers who lived in New Jersey between 2006 and 2010 and all New Jersey hospital emergency room visits between 2006 and 2012.
Here are five study findings
1. All low-birth-weight children in these zip codes, regardless of race, had the same elevated risk of asthma, compared to children born at normal weights.
2. Low birth weight may predispose children to asthma but a physical trigger is needed, according to the study.
3. The New Jersey neighborhoods with a majority of black residents are on average two times closer to major industrial sources of air pollution and more likely to be near busy highways that produce hazardous particulate matter than other neighborhoods.
4. Indoor and outdoor air pollution can cause women to have low-birth-weight babies and trigger asthma in susceptible children, according to the study.
5. The study concluded characteristics of highly segregated neighborhoods may be a major factor behind the health disparities in childhood asthma rates.