Childhood Asthma Rates May Have Plateaued

The rising asthma rates in children over the past several years may have plateaued, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported recently in Pediatrics. The asthma rate among children increased from 3.6% to 6.3% from 1980 to 1996. The rate was 5.4% in 1997 and remained stable through 2000. Nevertheless, African-American children had the highest risk throughout the study period, and ethnic disparities in asthma health care utilization and mortality remain.