A University of Iowa study released Thursday said children living on hog farms are more likely to have asthma. The prevalence of asthma is even more dramatic among children living on hog farms where antibiotics are added to feed, said the study’s author Dr. James A. Merchant, dean of the College of Public Health and an environmental health professor. Researchers examined 644 children from birth through 17 years old living in Keokuk County. They considered other risk factors for asthma including premature birth, respiratory infections at a young age, personal history of allergies and family history of allergic disease. The study indicated that 55.8 percent of children living on hog farms where antibiotics are added to feed had at least one health indicator of asthma. That compares to 26.2 percent of children on farms that do not raise hogs.
