Heat-Related Illness Among Latinx Child Farmworkers in North Carolina: A Mixed-Methods Study
Abstract
Children as young as ten are legally hired for farm work. In North Carolina, many of these hired children are Latinx; they often work long hours during hot and humid summer conditions. Heat-related illness occurs along a continuum of severity ranging from heat cramps and rashes to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be fatal. The literature on the negative health effects of occupational heat exposure is growing; however, few studies have examined this exposure and health outcomes among child agricultural workers. To understand Latinx child farmworkers’ experiences of working in heat, we conducted in-depth interviews (n = 30). To estimate the prevalence of heat-related illness symptoms and associated factors, we conducted survey interviews (n = 165). Heat-related illness is common among these child farmworkers. While children often understand the dangers of working in heat, work organization often prevents their taking precautions. Formal workplace protections to prevent heat-related illness are limited.
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Biographies
Taylor J. Arnold is a project manager in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He manages the statewide child farmworker study in North Carolina. He is interested in utilizing participatory research methods to understand the intersections of labor, migration, and health.
Thomas A. Arcury is a professor of Family and Community Medicine and director of the Center for Worker Health at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He is a medical anthropologist and public health scientist with a research program focused on improving the health of rural and minority populations. Since 1996, he has participated in a program of community-engaged research on environmental and occupational health and justice with immigrant workers and their families.
Joanne C. Sandberg is an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Much of her research focuses on worker health, minority health, and health equity.
Sara A. Quandt is a professor of Epidemiology and Prevention, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is a medical anthropologist whose career includes more than twenty years of community-based participatory research with immigrant workers in agriculture, manufacturing, and construction to understand their occupational injuries and illnesses.
Jennifer W. Talton is a senior biostatistician within the Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She has more than thirteen years of experience in public health research, including community-based participatory research projects as well as large, multicenter studies. Talton has experience overseeing data management of projects including web-based (live data) reporting and tracking; data edits; designing and creating databases; as well as collaboration with study investigators to perform statistical analyses for publication and presentation.
Dana C. Mora is a research associate in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Mora received a Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology from the University of Florida. She has managed several research projects related to occupational health among Latinx immigrant farmworkers and poultry processing workers in North Carolina. Currently, she is the project manager for a community-based participatory research project. The project focuses on children of Latinx farmworkers; its main aim is to examine the effects of pesticides in the children’s cognitive and brain development.
Gregory D. Kearney is an associate professor and program director for the Doctor of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Program located in the Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.
Haiying Chen is a professor of Biostatistics and Data Science at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She has expertise in design and analysis of survey data, clinical trials, and longitudinal data. She has participated in several community-based participatory research studies and served in the role of a lead biostatistician on these projects.
Melinda F. Wiggins is the executive director of Student Action with Farmworkers, a nonprofit organization that works with young people to improve the lives of farmworkers and their families. Wiggins is involved with many social and economic justice organizations and was instrumental in creating two statewide coalitions focused on immigrant and workers’ rights—the Adelante Education Coalition and Farmworker Advocacy Network. In March 2012, Wiggins was honored by President Obama and the White House as a recipient of the “Cesar Chavez Champion of Change” award.
Stephanie S. Daniel is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor and vice chair for Research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine. Daniel has more than twenty years of continuous extramural research funding (including NIH and foundation funding) with expertise in recruiting and maintaining both clinical and community samples, and in the implementation of longitudinal and intervention development research methods. Daniel serves as the Principal Investigator for the Hired Latino Youth Farmworkers: Work Organization, Safety, Hazards, and Health Project (R01-HD084420).
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Article first published online: April 29, 2020
Issue published: August 2020
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