9m US children have had asthma

Nine million U.S. children have had asthma at some point in their lives, and more than 4 million have had an asthma attack in the past year, according to federal statistics published on Wednesday. Twelve percent of all U.S. children under the age of 18 have been diagnosed with asthma, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But 14 percent of boys have been diagnosed, compared to 10 percent of girls. And 16 percent of children in poor families have had asthma, compared to 11 percent of children living above the poverty line. The study also finds that almost 5 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 had been identified with a learning disability, and almost 4 million had been identified with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). “Boys were more than twice as likely as girls (10 percent versus 4 percent) to have been identified with ADHD,” the NCHS said in a statement. The report also said that in 2002 nearly 10 million U.S. children had to take regular prescription medication for at least three months. “Fifteen percent of boys were on regular medication compared with 12 percent of girls, and non-Hispanic white children and non-Hispanic black children were more likely to have been on regular medication than Hispanic children,” the NCHS said. —Reuters

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