Tiempo de cuidado familiar en la carga de trabajo doméstico y sus efectos en la salud del niño

Introduction: The well-being of children depends on comprehensive care. It is the mother, together with the family, who plays an important role in the comprehensive care of their children; therefore, the time they dedicate to such task is essential. Objective: To identify the effects of family care time within domestic workloads on child health. Methods: Quantitative, observational and cross-sectional study, with ex post facto design, carried out, from January to December 2019, in Acomayo, Chinchao District, Huánuco Province, Peru. The population was 180 mothers, while the sample was 54 subjects chosen with simple random sampling. The following instruments, validated and made reliable, were applied: a questionnaire on the mother’s general characteristics, an assessing card for the child’s nutritional status, a hemoglobin screening card, document analysis card for the children’s illness episodes. Absolute frequencies and percentages were used< the hypotheses were verified using the chi-square test for P≤0.05. Results: Of the whole sample, 55.55% had insufficient time for family care, while 42.59% had an adjusted time. There was acute malnutrition in 48.14% and mild anemia in 46.29%. The presence of at least one episode of acute diarrheal disease was identified in 37.03%; for acute respiratory infection, in 38.88%; and for parasitosis, in 35.18%. Conclusions: Insufficient family care time within the domestic workloads has unfavorable effects on child health, evidenced by the presence of acute malnutrition, anemia, acute diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections and parasitosis in the children studied (P≤0.05).