Big Island kids' asthma rate high

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

One out of every five Big Island children interviewed in an ongoing study indicate they've been diagnosed with asthma, a far higher rate than reported among all children in Hawai'i or the United States, a University of Hawai'i researcher says.

Dr. Elizabeth Tam of the John A. Burns School of Medicine said "very preliminary" data show that 1,718 fourth- and fifth-graders have been asked if they have been diagnosed with asthma, and 22 percent said yes.

That compares with about 13 percent of children ages 5 to 17 responding to a similar question nationwide in 1997-99 National Health Interview studies. Similar rates of around 13 percent have been calculated for children of all ages in Hawai'i as a whole, Tam said.

"I had to sit down when I saw those numbers," Tam said.

The $1.1 million, five-year study, paid for by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 2001, will compare lung growth and function in around 2,000 children over a three-year period. Results are years away.

Parents of participants are being asked about their homes, health, even backyard burning and catchment water.

John Hunter, program director for the American Lung Association in Hawai'i, called Tam's figures "astonishing." Hunter said the Centers for Disease Control report asthma rates for all ages at 5.3 percent in the United States and 8.3 percent in Hawai'i.

"Dr. Tam has found a pocket of highly intense asthma," one which needs further study, Hunter said.

One aspect of the study is measuring the effect of the volcanic haze of sulfur dioxide known as vog. But reports of asthma are high all over the island, in and out of vog-prone areas, she said. That suggests the influence of many other factors, including mold, tobacco smoke, dust mites, cats and carpets, Tam said.

"People should be aware of indoor as well as outdoor air," she said. "One thing people can change is secondhand smoke. The Big Island has the highest rate of smoking in the state, and no restaurant smoking ban," she said.

Worried parents can also wash bed clothes in hot water, scour the shower and find another home for the family cat, she said.

Researchers associated with the project include the UH School of Ocean and Earth Sciences Technology, Harvard School of Public Health, University of Southern California, U.S. Geological Survey and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.