Black children were four times more likely and Hispanic children slightly more likely than white children to be hospitalized for a severe asthma attack in 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

For every 100,000 children ages 2-17 hospitalized for asthma attacks, the federal agency’s data show that: 384 were black, 94 were white, and 135 were Hispanic.

Asian and Pacific Islander children were the least likely to need inpatient hospital care for asthma (78).

Also, children from poor families were more than twice as likely as those from high-income families to be admitted, (231 versus 102).