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Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University

More than 7 million children in the United States have asthma, a chronic disease that causes coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing. The disease disproportionately affects inner-city African Americans; a disparity scientists believe is due in part to the direct and indirect effects of poverty, including high levels of pollutants and allergens in inner-city homes and neighborhoods. While such disparities in asthma health are not new, the gap has widened over the past 30 years. Research at this Center is designed to test whether eating a poor-quality diet may increase asthma severity among children and whether a high anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory diet increases the body’s ability to respond to stressors while decreasing susceptibility to pollutant and allergen exposures.

At this center, researchers focus on children living in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland to study how certain foods cause asthmatic responses and whether certain foods make a person’s asthma better or worse. Previous research has shown that eating a “Mediterranean diet” rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and low-fat dairy foods, antioxidants and vitamin D can reduce asthma attacks. On the other hand, a poor-quality diet high in fats from meat, junk food and soda may impair the body’s ability to handle pollution and allergens, potentially leading to more frequent asthma attacks.

Through its research, the center aims to better understand how dietary influences such as the “Mediterranean diet” or other dietary interventions impact asthmatic response to indoor and outdoor pollutants and triggers. The researchers hope to develop practical advice on what foods children could eat to better control their asthma.

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Main Center Abstract and Reports:

Atlantic Coast Environmental Indicators Consortium
Center for Hazardous Substances in Urban Environments (CHSUE)
The Johns Hopkins University Center For The Asthmatic Child in the Urban Environment
Inner City Toxicants and Neurodevelopmental Impairment
Center for Hazardous Substances in Urban Environments (CHSUE)
Carolina Environmental Bioinformatics Center
Johns Hopkins Particulate Matter Research Center
Inner City Toxicants, Child Growth and Development
Johns Hopkins Center for Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment
Carolina Center for Computational Toxicology
Mechanisms of Asthma -- Dietary Interventions against Environmental Triggers
National Environmental Respiratory Center
SEARCH: Solutions to Energy, AiR, Climate, and Health
Comparing Urban and Rural Effects of Poverty on COPD (CURE COPD)
Center for the Study of Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment (CCAUE)
Initial Annual CEMALB Progress Report: Human Health Effects of Environmental Pollutants

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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Last updated April 28, 2023