Community child health, public health and epidemiology
Work, family socioeconomic status, and growth among working boys
in Jordan
H Hawamdeh, N Spencer
School of
Postgraduate Medical Education, University of Warwick, Coventry
CV4 7AL, UK
Correspondence to: Prof. Spencer n.j.spencer{at}warwick.ac.uk
Accepted 21 November
2000
AIMS
To describe the work, family
socioeconomic characteristics, and growth of a representative sample of
working children in Jordan.
METHODSIn a cross sectional survey
of growth and health, 135 working children (aged 10-16 years) were
studied in the areas of Irbid, Jarash, and North Jordan Valley. The
children and their parents were interviewed and data collected on
length of working week, income earned by the child, duration of work in
years, age of starting work, type of work, child's smoking status, and
family socioeconomic status.
RESULTSThe mean age of the
children was 13.3 years; 14.8% had started work before the age of 10 and 12.6% had been working for more than four years. Mean income was
34 Jordanian Dinars but 6.7% were unwaged; 34% were working more than
60 hours per week, and 85.9% more than 40 hours. Monthly income and
working hours were positively correlated with the age of the child.
There was no correlation between age and smoking status; 37.8% smoked
more than five cigarettes per day. Mean height and weight z scores were
0.365 and 0.081 of the UK standard respectively. Packed cell
volume was within the anaemic range in 34.1% of children.
CONCLUSIONSIn Jordan many children
start work at an early age and work long hours for little or no income.
Stunting and anaemia are common and many are established smokers.
Relevance of these findings for social policy and health care of
working children in Jordan and elsewhere is discussed.
Keywords: work; socioeconomic status; health care; Jordan; smoking; anaemia
© 2001 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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