[Street child work in Latin American capitals].
OBJECTIVE
To identify the age, sex, mobility, education, work activity, working hours, street dwelling, and social security coverage in a group of children working in the streets in capital cities in Latin America.


METHODS
Cross sectional study. A questionnaire was applied to 972 children working in the streets of Bogotá, Guatemala City, Mexico City, Quito and San Salvador.


RESULTS
A total of 63.3% subjects were boys; 39% were children from displaced families; 18% lived in the streets; 62% worked more than 40 hours per week; 19% were covered by the social security system, and 32% were street vendors. The behavior of variables differed significantly by city.


CONCLUSIONS
Child labor in the streets is a dangerous activity characterized by long working hours and exposure to risk factors. Child work has different characteristics in each of the cities studied, which suggests that the solution to the problem must be designed on a case by case basis.
Pinzón-Rondón
Angela Maria
AM
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia. ampinzon@urosario.edu.co
Briceño-Ayala
Leonardo
L
Botero
Juan Carlos
JC
Cabrera
Patricia
P
Rodríguez
María Nelcy
MN
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population