Background And Objectives: Poor neighborhood conditions have established associations with poorer child health, but little is known about protective factors that mitigate the effects of difficult neighborhood conditions. In this study, we tested if positive family relationships can buffer youth who live in dangerous and/or disorderly neighborhoods from poor asthma outcomes.
Methods: A total of 308 youths (aged 9-17) who were physician-diagnosed with asthma and referred from community pediatricians and/or family practitioners participated in this cross-sectional study.
Rationale: Recent research reveals that, although girls encounter some barriers in school (e.g., in science and math), on balance, boys perform worse academically.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerging evidence in psychology suggests a paradox whereby high levels of self-control when striving for academic success among minority youth can have physical health costs. This study tested the skin-deep resilience hypothesis in asthma- whether minority youth who are striving hard to succeed academically experience good psychological outcomes but poor asthma outcomes. Youth physician-diagnosed with asthma (N = 276, M age = 12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Fulfilling family obligations-providing instrumental help to and spending time with family-is a common aspect of family relationships. However, whether fulfilling these obligations links with physical health remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether fulfilling family obligations was associated with asthma outcomes among youth, and whether these associations differed depending on family socioeconomic status (SES).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe links between low socioeconomic status and poor health are well established, yet despite adversity, some individuals with low socioeconomic status appear to avoid these negative consequences through adaptive coping. Previous research found a set of strategies, called shift-and-persist (shifting the self to stressors while persisting by finding meaning), to be particularly adaptive for individuals with low socioeconomic status, who typically face more uncontrollable stressors. This study tested (a) whether perceived social status, similar to objective socioeconomic status, would moderate the link between shift-and-persist and health, and (b) whether a specific uncontrollable stressor, unfair treatment, would similarly moderate the health correlates of shift-and-persist.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: There are marked socioeconomic disparities in pediatric asthma control, but the molecular origins of these disparities are not well understood. To fill this gap, we performed genome-wide expression profiling of monocytes and T-helper cells from pediatric asthma patients of lower and higher socioeconomic status (SES).
Method: Ninety-nine children with asthma participated in a cross-sectional assessment.
Background And Objectives: Both the social environment and the physical environment are increasingly recognized as important to childhood diseases such as asthma. This study tested a novel hypothesis: that living in areas high in greenspace may help buffer the effects of difficult family relationships for children with asthma.
Methods: A total of 150 children (ages 9-17), physician-diagnosed with asthma, participated in this study.
Background: Previous literature documents associations between low socioeconomic status (SES) and poor health outcomes, including asthma. However, this literature has largely focused on the effects of current family circumstances.
Objective: We sought to test an intergenerational hypothesis, that the childhood SES that parents experience will be associated with asthma outcomes in their children, independent of effects of current family SES.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate 2 key dimensions of socioeconomic status (SES)-prestige and resources-and their associations with immune, behavioral, and clinical outcomes in childhood asthma.
Methods: Children ages 9 to 17 years with a physician's diagnosis of asthma (N = 150), and one of their parents participated in this study. Children and parents completed interviews and questionnaires about SES (prestige = parent education; resources = family assets), environmental exposures, and clinical asthma measures.
Food allergy (FA) affects 2%-10% of US children and is a growing clinical and public health problem. Here we conduct the first genome-wide association study of well-defined FA, including specific subtypes (peanut, milk and egg) in 2,759 US participants (1,315 children and 1,444 parents) from the Chicago Food Allergy Study, and identify peanut allergy (PA)-specific loci in the HLA-DR and -DQ gene region at 6p21.32, tagged by rs7192 (P=5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Allergy Immunol Pulmonol
September 2010
A number of studies have linked obesity with asthma in adults and children. Few longitudinal studies have evaluated the effect of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity on either asthma or early childhood respiratory morbidity, and these have not been in urban, nonwhite populations. We sought to determine whether pre-pregnancy obesity was associated with recurrent wheezing in an urban, nonwhite population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol
November 2009
Background: The relationship between the prenatal environment, maternal-fetal interaction, and allergic disease in the offspring remains understudied.
Objective: We sought to determine whether gestational diabetes (GDM) modifies the risk of early childhood atopic manifestations, including atopic dermatitis and allergen sensitization.
Methods: This study includes 680 children from the Boston Birth Cohort.
J Allergy Clin Immunol
April 2009
Background: Obesity and allergic diseases have increased dramatically in recent decades. Although adiposity has been associated with asthma, associations with allergic sensitization have been inconsistent.
Objective: To examine the association of adiposity and lipid profiles with allergic sensitization.
Most adverse reactions to foods are the result of intolerances rather than food allergy. It is important to identify children with potential food allergy as life-threatening, and life-ending reactions can occur. A clear understanding of the manifestations of food allergy caused by both IgE- and non-IgE-related mechanisms will help the practitioner to identify children who likely have food allergy so that additional diagnostic evaluation can be performed and appropriate avoidance can be instituted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prematurity (< 37 weeks) has been inconsistently associated with asthma and wheezing. Chorioamnionitis may promote both prematurity and inflammatory pathways in infants' airways.
Objective: To investigate the relationship of prematurity and chorioamnionitis with the development of early childhood recurrent wheezing.
Purpose Of Review: Childhood asthma and obesity are significant public health problems. The prevalence of both disorders has increased considerably in the past decade. This review will highlight recent publications regarding the nature of the relationship between asthma and obesity and the clinical effects of obesity in children with asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Our goal was to compare BMI and waist circumference with dual-energy radiograph absorptiometry-based measures of adiposity and to describe the pattern and interrelations of these surrogate and direct adiposity measures in prepubertal and pubertal rural Chinese children.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2493 children aged 6 to 18 years from a population-based cohort of twin pairs. Dual-energy radiograph absorptiometry-based measurements included total body fat, percentage of body fat, trunk fat, and percentage of trunk fat.