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

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Thomas A.,Arnold,Taylor J.,Quandt,Sara A.,Chen,Haiying,Ke Arcury (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: 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 childfarmworkers in 2017, this analysis documents the heath characteristics and occupational injuries ofLatinx child farmworkers and delineates characteristics associated with their health and occupationalinjuries. Latinx child farmworkers include girls (37.6%) and boys (62.4%), aged 10 to 17 years, with17.8% being migrant farmworkers. Three-quarters reported receiving medical and dental care inthe past year. Respiratory (15.8%) and vision (20.3%) problems were prevalent. Girls more thanboys, and younger more than older children had greater health service utilization. Occupationalinjuries 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 oddsof reporting work injuries and heat-related illness, and being a non-migrant reduced the oddsof reporting work injuries. These results emphasize the need for greater documentation of childfarmworker occupational health and safety. They underscore the need to change occupational safetypolicy to ensure that children working in agriculture have the same protections as those working inall other U.S. industries.

Additional Information

Publication

Other

Language: English

Date: 2019

Keywords

child labor; migrant and seasonal farmworkers; occupational health; agricultural health; health disparities; health equity; Latino/Hispanic

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