[Child labor and health in a public market, Valencia, Venezuela].
OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at determining the living conditions, work practices, health effects and associated occupational risk factors in children working in a public market in Valencia, Venezuela.


METHODS
A questionnaire was administered which included demographic and exposure variables; a descriptive analysis was then made of the data. Forty-four children were selected.


RESULTS
The average workday lasted 9.2 + or - 3.2 hours/day. Children were most frequently employed in selling provisions and fruit (43.2 %); 22.7 % of them were evidently backward at school. The symptoms most reported were headache (84%), stress (59.1 %) and fatigue (58.2 %). Occupational accidents were reported by 11.4 % of the children and 2.3 % had suffered an occupational disease related to their present activity. The most frequently occurring occupational risks were discomfort caused by heat (93.2 %), noise (88.6 %) and repetitive work (84.1 %). A significant, indirect correlation was found between age and stress (p=0.04), as in publications showing that the negative impact of stress is more severe in children aged less than 10. It was determined that being a minor had greater significant association with the occupational risk of having greater exposure to organic toxic waste (p=0.017) and working under pressure (p=0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
There is no systematic data collection programme for assessing child labour in Venezuela even though a variety of risk factors have been identified and perceived for children. More sensitive indicators are required for the early identification of effects and how to control exposure to the risks mentioned above so that the problem can be studied in greater depth.
Rojas
Maritza
M
Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela. rojas.m@interlink.net.ve
Vegas
Zulay
Z
Briceño
Leonardo
L
Rodríguez
Lourdes
L
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003132:Commerce; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009676:Noxae; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D006256:Hazardous Waste; D009676:Noxae