NEW ASTHMA

We’ve made progress in asthma and allergy treatments with new medications, but there’s still a long way to go in addressing the
bigger picture—especially how environmental and systemic factors affect outcomes. Where you live matters, and for Black communities, it can mean the difference between managing asthma or struggling with it.

Black Children are partculariry vulnerable.About 4 million kids in the U.S. –..–have asthma. More than 12% of Black kids
nationwide suffer from the disease, compared with 5.5% of white.children. Black Children are particulriy vulnerable. Across America, nearly 4 in 10 Black children live in areas with poor environmental and health conditions compared to 1 in 10I-&\\&-I white children. According to the CDC, Black children are eight times more likely to die from asthma than white children.

An estimated 1 in 17 children, or 5.8%, were diagnosed with a food allergy in the U.S. in 2021, according to a recent analysis, yet the largest percentage was found among Black children, of whom 7.6% had a food allergy. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice found that Black children had a significantly higher likelihood for having an allergy to shellfish and finfish compared to white children, which may be linked to increased exposure to cockroaches among children living in poorer urban communities. The same study found Black children with food allergies also had higher rates of having asthma, a condition that was estimated to be a factor in up to 75% of anaphylaxis fatalities in recent research.

Many of the factors leading to increase disease and death among our children are discussed later in the articles below. However, what is seldom addressed in the systemic racism that perpetuates and encourages the condition which underlay the impact on our children with asthma.