Abstract Background Asthma remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among U.S. children, influenced by socioeconomic, racial, and environmental disparities. Understanding the demographic and social correlates of asthma prevalence can guide targeted public health interventions. Methods We analyzed data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Data Query System using responses to the question, “Does child’s name still have asthma?” among children aged 0-17 years who were ever diagnosed with asthma by a healthcare professional. Asthma prevalence was stratified by age, sex, race/ethnicity, disability status, family structure, parental education, employment, insurance type, functional difficulty, and poverty level. Results Children aged 12-17 had the highest asthma prevalence (8.5%) compared to ages 5-11 (7.3%) and 0-4 (2.4%, p 0.05). Male children had higher prevalence than females (7.2% vs 5.7%, p 0.005). Black children had the highest asthma rates (11.3%), followed by Hispanic (6.2%), White (5.6%), and Asian (3.3%, p 0.05). Children with disabilities (11.8%) and functional difficulties (9.4%) had nearly twice the prevalence of their counterparts (p 0.005). Higher prevalence was observed among children living with single parents (9.5%), those in households below the federal poverty line (8.6%), and those insured by Medicaid (8.0%) compared with privately insured peers (5.7%). Children from families with lower parental education and unemployment also had significantly higher asthma prevalence (p 0.05). Conclusion Childhood asthma disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged, minority, and functionally impaired populations. Addressing structural inequities, improving access to care, and enhancing environmental health interventions are essential to mitigate these disparities in pediatric asthma outcomes. This abstract is funded by: None
Tripathi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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