It seems living in an economically developed country doesn't give you all the advantages in life as we might expect. Turns out living in affluent places like Canada or the US makes kids with allergies more likely to have asthma - four times more likely than kids in not-so-rich areas of the world. No one is sure, but things like exposure to pollutants and housing conditions might play a role in this lopsided finding. Figure? Gee, I wonder if diet, exercise, or rampant pesticide use were considered. Or maybe this asthma thingy is being caused by a lack of religious education in our school system (future blog/rant subject).
Studies with results like this always make me chuckle a little on the inside. When these studies get reported it is almost as if we are supposed to be surprised that living in a rich country has disadvantages peppered into all the good stuff like late-night drive thrus and no late fee movie rentals. Who doesn't know of a kid with some kind of severe allergy, real or perceived? The question is what are we going to do about it? Wait for a medical cure in pill form or get off our fannies and solve the problem at its source?!
Maybe its time we try out a government who will take environmental issues seriously for a change.
Green Party of Ontario: http://www.gpo.ca/
See how pollution affects your lungs: http://www.cleanair.utah.gov/SWF/lung_control.swf
See the CBC article on the subject: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/09/14/asthma-affluent.html
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