In a 2013 study Thakur and colleagues found that for black kids, risk of asthma increases as socioeconomic status decreases.30 The trend was reversed for Mexican-American kids—the poorer they were, the less likely they were to have asthma. The findings in Mexican Americans may be due in part to acculturation, according to the authors—as an immigrant group becomes more assimilated into U.S. culture, they adopt less healthful behaviors, including poorer eating habits, more smoking, and reduced breastfeeding.
