EDITORIAL: Children in the waste basket

INTRODUCTION Improved living conditions, a better economy, better hygiene, and plenty of food combined with better medical technology have brought about improvements in child and youth health in recent years. Infectious diseases, undernutrition, poverty and all the "old diseases" are nearly things of the past, even though in the developed world we sometimes get caught up by old ghosts such as tuberculosis. In this issue of the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health is a timely and interesting review of waste pickers and the risks of this occupation to the health of many children, adolescents and women in Africa, Asia and Latin America, also called the South (1). The review details hazards encountered by children and adolescents working with solid waste. Dangers include possible worm infections, respiratory infections, lead and mercury poisoning, tetanus, HIV and hepatitis infections. Other hazards including exploitation, abuse and sexual abuse are also taken into account. Child labor is not only a problem of the South. It exists as well in the North in spite of laws implemented to protect children since the exploitation of children in coal mines a little more than 100 years ago. Over four million children and adolescents are legally employed in the United States, and another two million work under illegal and often exploitative conditions (2). More than 20% of children in the United States live below the poverty line, 100,000 can be found in shelters every night, and over 500,000 are homeless (3). Pediatricians need to be aware of these .conditions and to advocate as much as possible for medical assessment and treatment of children and adolescents. The fields of socialand community pediatrics have a vitally important task to fulfill. Poverty is a real thing, even in this millennium, and children at risk, for medical, social and mental problems and exploitation should not be thrown into the waste basket.