Number of London children being admitted to hospital with asthma rises 64% in a year

A man holds an inhaler (file picture)

(Picture: PA Wire)

The number of children being admitted to hospital with asthma in London has risen by 64 per cent in a year, according to new analysis, as Mayor Sadiq Khan vowed to clean up the capital's "filthy" air.

More than 3,600 children were hospitalised with the lung condition across London in 2021/22, an increase of more than 1,400 on the year before.

Analysis published by City Hall shows that half of all children and young people admitted to hospital with asthma were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, compared with 28 per cent of white children.

Children living in the capital’s most deprived areas were more likely to go to hospital due to their asthma, according to the charity Asthma + Lung UK. Poor air quality can stunt the growth of children’s lungs and worsen chronic illnesses such as asthma, lung and heart disease.

The number of hospital admissions due to asthma had dropped in the capital in 2020/21, when pollution levels fell dramatically as a result of successive lockdowns.

Previous analysis commissioned by City Hall estimated that the worsening of asthma by air pollution led to around 700 asthma admissions from 2017-2019 in children under 15 years in London.

Annual concentrations of harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are also between 16 and 27 per cent higher in areas where BAME Londoners were most likely to live.

All schools and colleges in outer London are in areas which exceed revised recommended air quality targets set by the World Health Organisation.

Ministers were criticised on Tuesday after only setting a target to tackle toxic air in London by 2040, which is a decade behind the target set by the European Union. MPs have called for the proposed timescale to be sped up to cut levels of tiny PM2.5 particulate pollution, which is harmful to human health.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “It’s unacceptable that any children are suffering health problems due to London’s toxic air, but that some children are being vastly worse affected than others is even more of an injustice.

“I am determined to clean up London’s filthy air, to protect the health of every child in London but also to ensure the future of their city in tackling the effects of climate change.”

Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma + Lung UK said: “No child should be hospitalised because the air they breathe has left them fighting for breath. This analysis is yet further evidence of the desperate need for local, and national governments to take decisive action on cleaning up our toxic air.”