The results of the Kwinana Children's Health Respiratory Study have today been sent to the nearly 600 participating children from almost 500 families as well as 10 local schools that participated.
Researchers from The Kids for Child Health Research collected data in 2009 to see if Kwinana children had more breathing problems or disease, such as asthma, and worse lung function than children from other areas of Perth.
The Kwinana families completed questionnaires about their child's breathing symptoms or disorders and the children did lung function tests. The results were compared with the same tests done by children from other areas of Perth who had been participating in another study (the Australian Child Health and Air Pollution (ACHAP) Study).
Study leader Dr Peter Franklin said that overall the respiratory health of Kwinana children is about the same as that of children in other areas of Perth.
"There were very few differences in the parent-reported symptoms," Dr Franklin said.
"However, we did find that children who had lived in Kwinana since before the age of 3 years were more likely to have wheezed at least once in their life when compared to children who had moved to Kwinana after the age of 3 years (42.1% versus 26.4%) but these children did not have increased recent symptoms (wheeze in the previous 12 months).
"This suggests there may be some environmental factor that affects wheeze in very young children but does not cause ongoing problems.
"There was also no difference in the results of the breathing tests between Kwinana children and the children from other areas."
The study was done in response to community concern about possible health effects from emissions from the Kwinana Industrial Area and was oversee by a steering committee representing the various stakeholders.
Dr Franklin will be presenting the study results at the Rockingham and Kwinana Communities and Industries Forum on Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 5:30pm at the Kwinana Recquatic Centre, Gilmore Ave, Kwinana. Further information can be found at the Kwinana Industries Council website -www.kic.org.au/
Dr Franklin thanked the Kwinana community, particularly the parents and children, along with the schools and the community, industry, and government representatives on the study committee.
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