California's racial and ethnic minorities more adversely affected by asthma

In California, nearly 2.8 million adults and children (8%) had active asthma in 2003. Of Californians with active asthma, 890,000 are children (ages 0-17) and 1.8 million are adults (age 18 and above). The prevalence of active asthma varies by racial and ethnic group, with racial and ethnic minority groups affected more adversely by asthma. They are more likely to go to the emergency department for asthma care, miss more school and work days because of asthma, and have poorer health status. They are also more likely to lack access to health care and to live in conditions associated with asthma exacerbations. Among California children, the prevalence of active asthma varies by racial and ethnic groups-with the highest prevalence among African Americans (17%) and American Indians/Alaska Natives (17%), followed by whites (10%), Latinos (7%) and Asians (7%; Exhibit 1). Among adults, American Indians/Alaska Natives have the highest prevalence of active asthma (13%), followed by African Americans (10%), whites (9%), Asians (5%) and Latinos (5%). The National data similarly show that both African Americans and American Indians have higher current asthma prevalence rates than non- Hispanic whites.