Determination of working conditions and healthy lifestyle behavior of child workers working in the organized industrial zone

Child labor is a common problem for children under the age of 18 who are forced to work in low-paid and dangerous employment conditions. This study was planned to investigate the healthy lifestyle behaviors of child workers working in Gaziantep Küsget Organized Industrial Zone. Descriptive questionnaire with 34 questions, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale-II (HLBS-II) were used as data collection tools in the study. 100% of the child workers participating in the research are male. 81.4% of child workers are between the ages of 15-18, 36.4% are secondary school graduates, 12.2% attend primary education, 4.9% attend apprenticeship high school, 31.3% continues high school. 87.1% of child workers work in automotive and 12.9% in other sectors. There is a significant relationship between the reasons for working and sociodemographic characteristics (p<0.05). The relationship between the education status of child workers and the time they worked at the workplace was also found significant (p<0.05). In this study, the mean GHQ-12 score was measured as 5.92. According to the scores obtained from the General Health Questionnaire, 90.8% of working children scored three or more. Those who scored three or more points in the study were accepted as a risk group in terms of mental problems according to the GHQ-12 result. In this study, the mean of the HLBS-II scale was 118.26 points. Those who score below the average score of the scale are 50.4%. The total score of the scale gives the healthy lifestyle behaviors score. General health screenings of working child workers should be done and policies that will increase healthy lifestyle behaviors should be determined and implemented.