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Latino kids have higher rates of asthma than other groups.
In Rhode Island, the asthma rate among students is 50% in some inner-city schools with large Latino populations, putting kids in danger of missing school and trekking to the emergency room.
What’s a solution?
A new study, called ASMAS (asthma management in schools) and led by Brown University, is using peer mentors to test the idea that “high schoolers might be able to help younger kids—like middle schoolers—manage their asthma better in school…especially if they come from the same ethnic group, and even from the same neighborhood,” Rhode Island Public Radio reports.
The study has recruited several peer mentors, like Andy Darius, a senior at Shea High School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who plays football, has severe asthma, and is of Caribbean descent.
The mentors are training now for the coming school year.
“[Researchers hope] that the middle schoolers will see Darius and the others as peers, people they can relate to, and want to emulate,” according to Rhode Island Public Radio.
Explore More:
Healthcare Access, Healthy Families & Schools, Healthy Lifestyles, Latino Cancer, Latino ObesityBy The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
