A study to assess and measure the breaches in the child rights

Background: Children signify eternal optimism in the human being and provide potential for the development. Every nation whether developed or developing, links its future with the status of child. An understanding of the physical, social and behavioral factors is conducive to assess the current situation and vulnerability of any child. To ensure the utmost level of health and safety of a child, we need to have an insight of the violation of child rights. We conducted this study to assess and measure the breaches in child rights. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 children between 10 to 18 years of age in one of the field practice areas of Community Medicine department, B. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad. Results: More than 90% of the children were born in the hospital settings, fully vaccinated and living with their parents. Of these, 60% of the children reported to have some kind of illness in the past one year, and majority of them approached healthcare facility for that the treatment. Of these, 26% of them had low birth weight (LBW) and 68% had body mass index (BMI) <18.5. About 93% of the children were enrolled in either government or private school and out of them, 54% complained of the burden of either homework or tuition. Of these, 6.5% children were school dropouts and all of them were girls; 4% of them were child labors. Conclusion: The study indicated positive findings in the areas of child survival, development and to some extent, in the domain of right to participation, though there were poor environmental conditions and recreational activities. Prevalence of malnutrition and child labor was also high. Study results highlighted the need for adequate services in these areas.