More U.S. Kids Have Chronic Health Problems: Study | WPN World People News

The number of American kids suffering from asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is on the increase, with poor children being hit the hardest, researchers report.

Children living in extreme poverty who had asthma and ADHD were nearly twice as likely to have at least one other chronic medical condition. These conditions included developmental delays, autism, depression, anxiety, behavioral or conduct issues, speech and language problems, epilepsy and other seizure disorders, and learning disabilities.

"These findings emphasize the importance of studying poverty and its impact on child health, as well as confirm the need for increased awareness to inform child health policy," said expert.

The reasons for the increase in chronic conditions aren't clear, but access to health care and health literacy may be playing a part, expert said. Increases in these conditions also were seen among children who rely on public assistance for their health care, expert added.

"I like to think we are doing a better job with access to care and diagnosis, but I don't know of any data that states that definitively," expert said.

"I also think the health literacy of the population is slowly improving, and programs such as Early Intervention and school-based services in individual states are working with parents to ensure they are aware of health concerns such as learning disabilities, speech and language disorders, ADHD, etcetera," expert said.

"This is all speculation, however, as our data only identifies the trends and not any causal factors," expert added.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the National Survey of Children's Health for 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2012, looking for trends in asthma, ADHD and economic status.

They found more significant increases in asthma and ADHD cases among children living in poverty, compared with their wealthier counterparts. Poor children with these conditions also were more likely to suffer from two or more additional conditions.

"I would like to think it could all be attributed to better identification and diagnosis, but, at least in my experience, there are still many children of families with limited means who have poor access to regular care who may not have their primary or additional health conditions identified correctly," expert said.

Expanded Medicaid services under the Affordable Care Act should help by providing better access to care for thousands of children, expert added.

"We need to face these issues head on and try to prevent or manage these chronic conditions early on so that outcomes will be much better, both for the individuals and society," expert said.

Source: HealthDay News