Asthma has one of the most striking racial disparities of any disease in the United States, Burchard says. Asthma prevalence among Puerto Rican and black children in the United States is double that of white kids.23,24 Mexican-American children generally have far less asthma, but those who do have it often face worse asthma-related outcomes (including missed school days and trips to the emergency room) than their white peers.24
