Asthma is the most common chronic disease affecting children. Although we do not fully understand what causes asthma, there is good evidence that social conditions early in a child’s life play an important role in its development. Children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to develop asthma, suffer from asthma attacks, require hospitalisation and die from their asthma.
In this study I will unpick why asthma disproportionately impacts poorer children in the UK. I will explore the reasons for socio-economic differences in asthma outcomes in the UK and examine the conditions in children’s lives which gives rise to such differences, such as, exposure to second-hand smoke and poor housing conditions.
To do this, I will use data from ALSPAC and other UK birth cohorts that have collected detailed information on asthma and allergy from participating children at regular intervals in their lives.
Findings from this research will help to establish how to reduce unfair differences in asthma outcomes for children, informing policy and practice to deliver services and interventions in the populations that are most affected by asthma. The impact of this will be to reduce inequalities in children’s health over the lifecourse and costs to healthcare systems.