Health Status and Life Situation of Street Children in Zahedan, Southeast of Iran

Abstract

Background:The children working in the streets are at risk of violence, sexual and substance abuse and infectious diseases. Few studies have been done in this field in Iran and around the world. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the health status and life situation of street children to encourage and inform interventions and the future research agenda regarding these children in Iran. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in southeast of Iran from January to April 2015. Based on postal map, the city was divided into five districts and 216 male street children were selected using snowball sampling. An unstructured questionnaire was provided by integrating eight previously used questionnaires in different studies with approved validity and reliability and filled with in-depth interview. Data were analyzed in Stata 12 software using independent t-test and chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 12.5 ± 3.2 years and 29.2% and 18.9% of them subsisted by vending and rubbish gathering, respectively. There was significant relation between fathers' job and type of children's activities (P = 0.024). The prevalence of smoking and history of alcohol consumption was 42.6% and 2%, respectively. The lowest mean age of initial use and also the most commonly used substance was for cigarette smoking. The mean age of children with illiterate parents that were using substances or had lost both their parents was lower than the mean age of the rest (P < 0.05). Only 38.6% of the children ate meals with their families and the rest ate their meals as snack. Conclusions:The health status and life situation of street children in this region do not seem appropriate and earning money is the most important motivation to being a street child. Unlike violence, the tendency to substance abuse, especially cigarette smoking, was pretty high. On the other hand, the lower age of illicit drug abuse among these children in this study indicates a higher vulnerability of this group. However, the awareness and educational level of the parents is an important determinant in this regard.

Exploring urinary biomarkers to assess oxidative DNA damage resulting from BTEX exposure in street children

“…The International Labour Organization reported that globally 152 million children are working and a half (around 73 million) are involved in hazardous work (Office, 2017;Pérez-Herrera et al, 2019). In addition, street children are often involved in child labour, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ansari et al, 2015;Kuimi et al, 2018). Generally, children's physiology and behavioral habits make them especially susceptible to environmental pollutants and occupational hazards, especially in those who live in impoverished families with malnutrition (Moya et al, 2004;Sughis et al, 2014).…”

Prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, drug use, and sexual behaviors among street children in Iran: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…A total of 26 studies reported the prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, drug use, opium, cannabis, alcohol, tobacco smoking, sexual abuse, and sexual contact in street children, but eight studies reported duplicate data, and we removed these studies. Finally, 18 studies were included in this systematic review and meta‐analysis, 12 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 (Roshanfekr et al, unpublished) (Figure 1 ).…”

Çocukları Sokağa İten Faktörler, Karşılaştıkları Sorunlar ve Hemşirenin Rolü

“…Afrika'da Cumber ve Tsoka-Gwegweni'nin çalışmalarına göre, sokak çocukları arasında demir eksikliği nedeniyle anemi ve A vitamini eksikliğinden dolayı görme bozukları olduğu bildirilmiştir (1). Ansari ve arkadaşlarının çalışmalarında, sokak çocuklarının yeterli protein ve vitaminden zengin beslenmedikleri, katılımcıların %69'unun bir önceki yıl boyunca et ve balık yemedikleri bildirilmiştir (29). Bu durum çocukların büyüme ve gelişmelerine zarar verir, kronik hastalıklara, enfeksiyonlara ve diğer birçok sağlık sorununa yol açabilir (30,31).…”

“…Sokak çocukları arasında istenmeyen gebelikler ve etkisiz antenatal bakım önemli bir sorundur (1,9). Sık görülen hastalıklar: Sokak çocuklarının temel gereksinimleri karşılanmadığı, yetersiz hijyen olanakları ve sağlık hizmetlerine sınırlı erişimleri nedeniyle tüberküloz, cilt hastalıkları, diş problemleri ve paraziter hastalıklar sokak çocuklarında sık görülebilmektedir (9,29).…”

“…Sokak çocuklarına yönelik gerekli müdahalelerin yapılması için bu çocukların gereksinimlerinin doğru saptanması gerekmektedir (9). Literatür incelendiğinde, bu alanda sınırlı çalışma olduğu görülmektedir (1,5,20,23,29). Bu derlemenin amacı; çocukları sokakta yaşamaya iten nedenleri, karşılaştıkları sorunları ve hemşirenin rolünü belirtmektir.…”