Daily HealthBeat Tip

Kids, asthma and traffic

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Location, location, location. That's the secret of real estate. And it also may hold a secret to health. Researchers say living within a few blocks of a major road seems to raise the risk of whether a kid gets asthma.

Rob McConnell of the University of Southern California looked at data on children ages five to seven. His study in Environmental Health Perspectives was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

"Children who lived within 80 yards, or about a block, of a major road had almost a 50 percent increase in the risk of asthma." (eight seconds)

Children within a block or two had about a 30 percent increased risk.

McConnell believes exhaust pollution is a likely cause. He thinks one thing parents could do is choose play areas for their kids that are away from major roads.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 8, 2006

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