Asthma Prevalence in an Inner-city Head Start Sample: Links with Family Income, Education and Race/Ethnicity

Authors

  • Ozlem Bekar The New School for Social Research The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services
  • Ellen Halpern ICDL Graduate School
  • Faith Lamb-Parker Bank Street College
  • Howard Steele The New School
  • Miriam Steele
  • Rebecca Shahmoon-Shanok The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v18i1.188

Keywords:

asthma-innercity, childhood, poverty, race/ethnicity, Head Start

Abstract

The Head Start Bureau has described asthma as a “growing problem†and “top chronic disease among Head Start children†(Rehnquist, 2002). This study examined the racial/ethnic and SES-based contributors to asthma prevalence among children attending three Head Start centers in a multi-ethnic, densely populated city in the U.S. Sample consisted of 1312 families. Findings indicated that poverty -over and above the effects of race/ethnicity- was a primary risk factor for asthma in this population: every thousand dollars increase in yearly income decreased the odds of asthma by 4%. In addition, Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and Asian race were predictive of very high and very low rates of asthma, respectively. There was a positive relationship between asthma status and caregivers' education level, which may play a role in reporting of asthma cases. These findings are of significant value to inform formulation of effective intervention programs at Head Start centers.

 

 

Author Biographies

Ozlem Bekar, The New School for Social Research The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

Department of Clinical Psychology

Howard Steele, The New School

Department of Clinical Psychology

Miriam Steele

Department of Clinical Psychology

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Published

2014-04-24

Issue

Section

Research Articles