Young Lives preliminary country report: Peru

Young Lives: An International Study of Childhood Poverty aims at improving understanding of the causes and consequences of childhood poverty in the developing world, and at informing policy to reduce it. In each of four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam), a longitudinal survey will follow children every three years until they are 15.

In the first phase in Peru, 2,052 index children aged 6-17.9 months and 716 children aged 7.5-8.5 years, at the time of enrolment, and their households, were selected from 20 sentinel sites across the country. This preliminary report presents descriptive information from the data on this initial survey. Key findings include:

• the coverage of electricity and sewage systems in rural and poor households is very low
• stunting is the main undernutrition problem in Peru, being worst in rural and poorer households
• obesity is emerging as a potential public health problem in Peru
• food aid programmes’ coverage of the rural and poorest children is good. However, due to the high prevalence of undernutrition in these same households, the quality of the food aid and its consumption by target children should be reviewed
• chronic illnesses in children are prevalent, in particular those related to bronchospastic airways diseases and asthma
• handwashing promotion programmes should be implemented
• measles immunisation coverage is low, compared with BCG immunisation
• there is a high prevalence of likely mental health problems in the children’s caretakers
• schooling coverage of 8 year olds is high, but the quality of education, as indicated by the literacy and numeracy of the children tested, is not good, especially in rural and the poorest households
• school violence (from teachers and other students) is the main problem identified by children in schools
• the level of reported child labour is low, and children who work do not express that working causes them problems. Child labour seems to expose these children to work-related injuries and to affect their school attendance