Health and Occupational Injury Experienced by Latinx Child Farmworkers in North Carolina, USA

Bibliographic Data

ID15465754
AuthorsT A Arcury (0000-0001-9523-9492, Wake Forest University, corresponding author), Taylor J Arnold (0000-0002-3575-1512, Wake Forest University), A Quandt (0000-0002-2968-5459, Wake Forest University), Haiying Chen (0000-0002-3053-3276, Wake Forest University), Gregory D Kearney (0000-0001-9684-9516, East Carolina University), Joanne C Sandberg (0000-0001-6056-6186, Wake Forest University), Jennifer W Talton (0000-0001-9365-1993, Wake Forest University), Melinda F Wiggins (Student Action with Farmworkers, Durham, NC 27705, USA), Stephanie S Daniel (0000-0001-5606-6146, Wake Forest University)
Year2019
Volume17
Issue1
Pages248-248
Publication date2019-12-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph17010248
PMID31905836
OpenAlexW2998050753
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited28

Children as young as 10 years old are hired to work on farms in the United States (U.S.). These children are largely Latinx. Using interview data collected from 202 North Carolina Latinx child farmworkers in 2017, this analysis documents the heath characteristics and occupational injuries of Latinx child farmworkers and delineates characteristics associated with their health and occupational injuries. Latinx child farmworkers include girls (37.6%) and boys (62.4%), aged 10 to 17 years, with 17.8% being migrant farmworkers. Three-quarters reported receiving medical and dental care in the past year. Respiratory (15.8%) and vision (20.3%) problems were prevalent. Girls more than boys, and younger more than older children had greater health service utilization. Occupational injuries were common, with 26.2% reporting a traumatic injury, 44.1% a dermatological injury, 42.6% a musculoskeletal injury, and 45.5% heat-related illness in the past year. Age increased the odds of reporting work injuries and heat-related illness, and being a non-migrant reduced the odds of reporting work injuries. These results emphasize the need for greater documentation of child farmworker occupational health and safety. They underscore the need to change occupational safety policy to ensure that children working in agriculture have the same protections as those working in all other U.S. industries

Environmental health · Family medicine · Injury prevention · Logistic regression · Occupational injury · Occupational medicine · Occupational safety and health · Odds · Odds ratio · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Agriculture and Farm Safety · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Occupational Health and Safety Research · Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity · Gerontology