Youngsters participating in the Harlem Children’s Zone Asthma Initiative were less likely to miss school because of asthma-related illnesses than they were before the initiative began, according to a report released by the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Just 8 percent of the 314 children in the initiative were absent because of asthma during a two-week period, compared with 23 percent 18 months earlier, before they began taking part in the program. The percentage drops were based on a survey of parents and guardians conducted by the program’s administrators.
The Harlem asthma initiative is a community-based public-health program aimed at reducing asthma-related deaths for children under age 13 who live in a 60-block radius of Central Harlem. Families of children enrolled in the program receive medical, educational, environmental, social, and legal services to combat asthma.
