Asthma rates worsen for Maori and Pacific children

Nearly a third of Maori children and a quarter of Pacific Island children in New Zealand have asthma, according to the findings of an international survey.

While the overall prevalence of asthma has changed little over the past decade, the number of New Zealand European children with symptoms has fallen while the number of Maori and Pacific Islanders with asthma has increased.

The survey, published by Dr Lis Ellison-Loschmann from Massey University's Centre for Public Health Research, questioned the parents or caregivers of just over 10,000 children aged 6 and 7, and more than 13,000 13 and 14-year-olds.

It was part of an international survey of about a million children in more than 100 countries, carried out between 2001 and 2003. Children from Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch participated.

It found that 28.5 per cent of Maori had asthma symptoms, up nearly 1 per cent from a survey 10 years earlier, while Pacific children showing symptoms had increased over 3 per cent to 25.2 per cent. The number of New Zealand European children with asthma had fallen by nearly 4 per cent in the same period.

Dr Ellison-Loschmann said analysis of ethnic differences in New Zealand made for striking results.

"When the same survey was done in 1992-1993, the ethnic differences were smaller. Since then, asthma symptom prevalence has stayed the same or increased in Maori and Pacific children, but has decreased in Pakeha children.

"So now we have big ethnic differences, particularly for younger children, which didn't exist 15 years ago."

Environmental factors such as parental smoking, breastfeeding, family size, use of paracetamol and antibiotics did not explain the disparity in differences, she said.

Asthma prevalence and severity in Maori may not be due to a higher incidence, but rather to a longer duration of the condition resulting from reduced access to care, Dr Ellison-Loschmann said. Ethnic inequalities may also have been exacerbated by variations in the access to asthma education.

Centre director Professor Neil Pearce said the time lag between the survey and the release of the findings was due to its extensive international scope, with the results of 250 separate centres having to be collated worldwide.

- NZPA