Children who live in the outer suburbs of Australia’s four biggest cities are twice as likely to have asthma as those living in inner city areas, according to a new study based on health data captured in the last Australian Census.

Telethon Kids Institute Associate Professor Ewan Cameron told Millsy and Karl on 6PR Breakfast his team were expecting to see higher numbers in cities, along the lines of what we thought was common knowledge.

“But what we really found is that children in outer suburbs – places like Butler, Girrawheen and Rockingham – had twice the rates of asthma,” Professor Cameron said.

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