%0 Journal Article
%T Labor and Related Injuries among Schoolchildren in Palestine: Findings from the National Study of Palestinian Schoolchildren (HBSC-WBG2006)
%A Christine Jildeh
%A Ziad Abdeen
%A Haleama Al Sabbah
%A Christopher Papandreou
%A Ibrahim Ghannam
%A Nancy Weller
%A Anastas Philalithis
%J ISRN Pediatrics
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/729573
%X Background. Labor related injuries among Palestinian schoolchildren are a significant undocumented public health concern. This study aimed at documenting the prevalence and nature of work related injuries among schoolchildren as well as identifying sociodemographic factors that predict these injuries. Methods. A cross-sectional survey included 15,963 children of whom 6458 (40.8%) completed an optional package related to labor. Students aged 12¨C18 years self-completed the international WHO collaborative HBSC valid questionnaires between April and May of 2006. Results. Approximately 73.8% of the students who filled the optional package reported working during the last 12 months, of whom 79.1% sustained a work related injury. Work injuries were significantly higher among boys, younger children, and children enrolled in UNRWA schools and living in Gaza Strip . Children working ¡Ý3 hours/day were more likely to experience injuries, 1.73 (95% CI, 1.53¨C1.95), than those working ¡Ü3/day. About half of the children worked in retail trade (51.5%), agriculture (20.0%), and cleaning (11.4%). Injury type was related to the type of work performed. Conclusions. The high prevalence of injuries among working Palestinian schoolchildren confirms its severity as a public health problem. To reduce occupational injuries, policymakers and professionals should develop intervention programs that target the public and health providers. 1. Introduction Child labor is prevalent worldwide [1, 2]. Schoolchildren who work are particularly vulnerable because their roles within various institutional structures are often subject to dramatic developmental shifts and normative crises. Family, school, and work subject adolescents to differing and sometimes contradictory degrees of autonomy, responsibility, purposefulness, and inadequate adult supervision [3]. Young workers run a higher risk of work injuries arising from lack of experience, limited awareness of existing or potential risks, or immaturity [4]. Working methods, tools, and equipment are normally designed for adults and do not take into account the smaller body size of the child worker. Thus, children and young people are at a greater risk of fatigue, injury, and accidents because of ill-fitting tools and safety equipment [5]. Although there is enough research evidencing socioeconomic disparities as a risk factor for unintentional injuries among adolescents (i.e., pedestrian, recreational) [6¨C11], very few have considered whether such disparities exist in work related injuries [12]. In examining individual level risk factors,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.pediatrics/2014/729573/