Older Siblings Bad for Health?
Higher Rates of Wheezing in Younger Sibs
A recent study pre-published online in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy found a higher rate of wheezing and other respiratory symptoms among 4 year-olds who had older siblings, as compared to those who were the oldest or only child. In addition, kids with at least two older siblings were 50% more likely than other children to have gone to an emergency department or been hospitalized overnight for breathing problems.
These findings could be due to the fact that kids with older siblings are exposed to more viral illnesses. The study also found that wheezing was more common in boys, and in children of asthmatic parents. The study surveyed the parents of 1005 children from Head Start programs in neighborhoods with the highest rates of childhood asthma hospitalization in New York City.
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