Variability in childhood asthma and body mass index across Northern Plains American Indian communities.
OBJECTIVE
There are sparse data on the variability in childhood asthma across different Native American communities and the corresponding associations with known risk factors such as high body mass index and family history. The purpose of this study is to evaluate cross-sectional data on childhood asthma prevalence, body mass index, and other descriptive variables among Native Americans in five rural Northern Plains Indian reservation communities.


METHODS
A school-based screening program was conducted on four Northern Plains Indian Reservations. The 1852 children (96% Native American, 4th through 12th grades) were screened for asthma status, body mass index (BMI), and family history.


RESULTS
Approximately 9.5% of students reported current asthma. Current asthma varied significantly across the four reservation sites, ranging from 5.7% to 12.6%. Current asthma was also positively associated with BMI and family history of asthma.


CONCLUSIONS
The intertribal differences in asthma prevalence noted here emphasize the need for further understanding the intertribal environmental, social, and behavioral factors that are associated with childhood asthma and obesity. Such knowledge can help inform disease prevention or disease management strategies that encompass the unique characteristics of tribal communities and culture.
Noonan
Curtis W
CW
Center for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA. curtis.noonan@umontana.edu
Brown
Blakely D
BD
Bentley
Bonnie
B
Conway
Kathrene
K
Corcoran
Mary
M
FourStar
Kris
K
Freide
Priscilla
P
Hemlock
Bethany
B
Wagner
Sharon
S
Wilson
Todd
T
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009009:Montana / Q000453:epidemiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution