Researchers say a decrease in the prevalence of asthma in children is leaving a clear inequity.
Asthma inhalers Photo: (Pewari- CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Health Ministry data shows 11.9 percent of children aged between two and 14 were diagnosed with asthma last year, the lowest rate since 2011.
Two- to four-year-olds showed the biggest decrease, down six percent.
But the data, analysed by Environment Health Intelligence NZ at Massey University, showed that rates for Māori and Pacific children were still far higher, with 16.6 percent of Māori and 16.4 percent of Pacific children diagnosed last year.
Environment Health Intelligence NZ analyst Helene Marsters said the trend for Māori and Pasifika was inconsistent, unlike other groups.
Helene Marsters, Senior Intelligence Analyst for EHIN. Photo:
"While the other ethnic groups were shown to have relatively stable prevalence rates of medicated asthma over the years, the rates for Māori children have been shown to fluctuate from 2011 to 2021," she said.
Asian children were least likely to be diagnosed or treated for asthma, at only 8 percent.
New Zealand has some of the world's highest rates of asthma, which experts attribute to poor housing and other environmental factors, like exposure to secondhand smoke and transport emissions.
The analysis said children living in the most deprived areas were 1.38 times more likely to have medicated asthma, though with age, sex and ethnicity adjustments, the difference was described as "not statistically significant".
Canterbury DHB had the lowest prevalence, at 10.1 percent, while Taranaki and West Coast had the highest, 20.3 and 20.5 percent respectively.