Street and Working Children of Delhi,¹India, Misusing Toluene: An Ethnographic Exploration

Abstract

Our qualitative study explored: the perceptions of street children indulging in whitener fluid misuse; the social, economic, and cultural determinants of use; and users' views regarding effective preventive and control strategies. Forty-five in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted between March and December 2003. A purposive sample of those working children who were using toluene was selected by Snowball sampling. The paper discusses the: determinants of initiation and continued use; drug user social networks; psycho emotional deprivation and frustrations of these children; socio-cultural aspects like work driven need; others' attitudinal response towards them and their work; parental support or the lack of it; and strategies for prevention of this misuse.

Nutritional Status of Orphaned and Separated Children and Adolescents Living in Community and Institutional Environments in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

“…Moreover, street youth are roughly 6 times more likely than children in CCI’s to be stunted, indicating that street youth have most likely experienced even more chronic malnutrition at least in their pasts. These data strongly support other evidence suggesting that 80% of children turn to street life because of extreme poverty or neglect in the home [35], [36], [37]. Our fourth key finding is that, in spite of widespread stunting among children in HH and street youth, 15–20% actually had high BMI-for-age, suggesting another kind of malnutrition increasingly evident in developing countries: over-weight and obesity [38], [39], [40].…”

Inhalant Abuse (Typewriter Correction Fluid) in Street Children

“…22 Acute effects of inhalants include feeling "drunk," lightheadedness with "floating sensation," drowsiness, dizziness, and disorientation. 10 With increasing amount, signs of toxicity like ataxia, dysarthria, nystagmus, general muscle weakness, occasionally hallucinations and disruptive behavior appears. Chronic exposure can lead to significant damage to brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidneys.…”

“…24 The commonly used inhalants among street children in Delhi include adhesive glue, petrol, gasoline, typewriter correction fluid and thinner, spirit, and paint sprays. 8,10 The typewriter correction fluid and thinner are volatile solvents, which contains 1,1,1-trichloroethane as the major constituent. It is an organic solvent used as a degreasing agent in industry.…”

“…4 The most commonly reported inhalants of abuse in western literature are gasoline, glue, nail polish, paint removers, and paint sprays. 4 Studies from India have reported abuse of inhalants like kerosene, 5 petrol, 6 -8 gasoline, 9 typewriter correction fluid, 3,8,10 etc. Their use has increased in recent years because they are cheap and easily available.…”

Inhalant substance abuse among adolescents in Manipur, India: An upcoming issue

“…[3,8] Inhalant use among children has been seen to precede or act as a predictor for substance use later as they grow up. [9][10][11][12] Despite long standing awareness of the signifi cant morbidity and mortality associated with inhalant abuse, research and concrete data on its use and effects has been comparatively sparse in India. For these reasons, we took up this study to have a preliminary idea about the prevalence and associated factors of inhalant use among adolescents in our State.…”