Assessment of Asthma prevalence among school children and number of smoking households in a Central Kentucky County: Relation with enforcement of a more restrictive smoking policy

The primary purpose of this study is to assess the number of smoking households and the prevalence of asthma among school children enrolled in 19 schools in a central Kentucky County. The secondary purpose is to identify the influence of recent implementation of a more restrictive smoking policy on the prevalence of asthma among school children, as well as the number of smoking households, by comparing findings with the results of data collected during last year. Data has been collected from 11032 students enrolled during fall 2007 regarding: student enrollment in free/reduced lunch program; presence of specific health conditions; health insurance status; smoking status of the household; and, dental visits. Examination of the results revealed that the asthma prevalence and the percentage of smoking households decreased from 7.1% to 6.1% and 36.1% to 34.2% respectively, from 2006-07 to 2007-08. Although the number of smoking households represent a third of the sample, the percentage of asthma cases from smoking households constitute 44.5% of the total number of asthma cases. The percentage of asthma cases among smoking households increased from (7.99%) compared to last year (7.274%) and the percentage of asthma cases from non-smoking households had decreased from 6.912% to 6.08%. Analysis of enrollment for free/reduced lunch showed that 45.5% of students from smoking households are enrolled in free/reduced lunch programs, compared to 26.3% of students from non-smoking households. Similarly, 57.8% of the students from smoking households depend on Medicaid compared to 38.6% of students from non-smoking households.