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Objectives. Research on child labor and its effect on health has been limited. We sought to determine the impact of child labor on children's health by correlating existing health indicators with the prevalence of child labor in selected developing countries.
Methods. We analyzed the relationship between child labor (defined as the percentage of children aged 10 to 14 years who were workers) and selected health indicators in 83 countries using multiple regression to determine the nature and strength of the relation. The regression included control variables such as the percentage of the population below the poverty line and the adult mortality rate.
Results. Child labor was significantly and positively related to adolescent mortality, to a population's nutrition level, and to the presence of infectious disease.
Conclusions. Longitudinal studies are required to understand the short- and long-term health effects of child labor on the individual child.
(Am J Public Health. 2007;97:271-275. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.066829)
Child labor is an important global issue associated with poverty, inadequate educational opportunities, gender inequality, and a range of health risks.1 Child labor is defined by the relevant international conventions (UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child,2 International Labor Organization [ILO] Convention 138,3 and especially, 182(4)) not by the activities performed by the child, but by the consequences of such activities (exceptions are the so-called unconditional worst forms of child labor such as prostitution and bondage, as noted in ILO Convention 182). For instance, work affecting a child's health and schooling should, according to these conventions, be eliminated.5 Identifying the health effects of child labor is essential because it enables policymakers to decide which types of child labor to target for eradication.
The ILO estimates that there are approximately 250 million child laborers worldwide, with at least 120 million of them working under circumstances that have denied them a childhood and in conditions that jeopardize their health and even their lives. Most working children are ages 11 to 14 years old, but as many as 60 million are between the ages of 5 and 11.6 Although the exact numbers are not known, available statistics indicate that approximately 96% of child workers reside in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; there are also pockets of child labor in many industrialized countries.5,7,8...