THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR
The negative impact on the physi-
ological and psychological levels of
children includes specific concerns
of child labor and its consequences
on mental health. It is worth not-
ing that one-third of children of
the developing world are failing to
complete even 4 years of education.
The analysis of factors leading to
engagement of children in haz-
ardous factors elucidated socio-
economic factors as one of the
important determinants. Poverty
is considered as one of the contrib-
utory factors in child labor. Men-
tal well being is less frequently re-
searched in child labor.
A retrospective cohort study in
Morocco randomly examined 200
children working in the handicraft
sector and found a high prevalence
of respiratory, digestive and skin
conditions, as well as mental health
presentations such as migraines,
insomnia, irritability, enuresis and
asthenia. workers aged between 5 and 15
years.
In a cross-sectional survey, urban
Lebanese children aged 10–17,
working full-time in small indus-
trial shops, were compared with
non-working matched school chil-
dren. Majority of them had poor
physical health, predominantly
marked with skin lesions or ear
complaints and social care needs.
Similarly, authors aimed to find
out consequences in children in
Lebanon exposed to solvents, and
found significantly higher rates of
lightheadedness, fatigue, impaired
memory and depression compared
with a non-exposed group. The prevalence of mental disorders
was noted to be as high as 20.1%
compared with 12.5% in the gen-
eral population. Further study to
establish the association between
labor-related variables and mental
health problems was carried out
among 780 children engaged in la-
bor (aged 9–18 years) in the Gaza
Strip. Mental health problems of
children in labor were likely to be
associated with socioeconomi