Repercussão do trabalho infantil urbano na saúde de crianças e adolescentes

Objective: To analyze the health of children and adolescents who are under working conditions in São Paulo. Methods: The study considered 32 children and adolescents, aged between 6 and 14, enrolled on the Child Labor Eradication Program (Programa de Erradicação do Trabalho Infantil - PETI, Brazil) from three different regions of the city of São Paulo. The participants were individually assessed through an occupational anamnesis, systematized by an evaluation form, to collect data on labor activity and Lipp & Lucarelli’s Child Stress Scale was applied. Data statistical analysis was performed with softwares EVOC 2000 and SPSS. Results: It was found that recycling was the predominant occupation, totalizing 59.3% of the sample, and the collective method was more prevalent in relation to the individual one. Over 90% of participants used protective equipment in working activity and 72% do not miss the occupation they once had. Of the participants presenting significant signs of stress, 75% work or used to work with recycling activities and 87.5% are still engaged on the activity. When analyzing the Child Stress Scale, it was noted that there are more stress signs in child workers (46.7%) in comparison to the former workers (5.9%) and significant difference between work and stress (p-value 0.008). Conclusions: It was noted that the labor activity in childhood may cause perturbation of psychophysiological nature and, in spite of the relatively small sample size, deleterious aspects of this activity for children and adolescents were pointed out. It was also evidenced that, despite a high percentage of this group becomes enrolled on the program, they still keep theiroccupatio