Health, 2017, 9, 577-591
http://www.scirp.org/journal/health
ISSN Online: 1949-5005
ISSN Print: 1949-4998

Life Style and Risk Behavior of Street Children
in Bangladesh: A Health Perspective
Sajeda Chowdhury1, Abu Sayeed Chowdhury2, KATM Ehsanul Huq2, Yasmin Jahan2,
Rubana Chowdhury3, Toufiq Ahmed4, Md Moshiur Rahman1*
Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan3
Department of Chemistry, National University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
4Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan1
2

How to cite this paper: Chowdhury, S.,
Chowdhury, A.S., Huq, K.E., Jahan, Y.,
Chowdhury, R., Ahmed, T. and Rahman,
M.M. (2017) Life Style and Risk Behavior ofStreet Children in Bangladesh: A Health
Perspective. Health, 9, 577-591.
https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2017.94041
Received: March 16, 2017
Accepted: April 4, 2017
Published: April 7, 2017
Copyright © 2017 by authors andScientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access

Abstract
Background: Street children concern to millions of deprived boys and girls
who have adopted the street as their residence. They grow up where tranquility and physical and emotional stability are frequently threatened. The purpose is to have an empathetic look into the lives of street children for identifying their health-related needs. Method: A cross sectional descriptive type ofstudy was conducted among 125 street children between the ages 8 to 14 years
who were available at different intercept points of Dhaka city, Bangladesh.
The information was collected through face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. An attempt was made to relate their lifestyle, risk behavior and health impact upon the socio demographic characteristics. Result:
According to the statement of street children, poverty (41%) is the main reason behind enforcing the children to stay and work on the street. They passtheir leisure by playing games, roaming around by watching video/cinema buton the other side of the coin, they are frequently abused (80.8%) either physically or sexually. Regarding health, about 87.2% of street children were suffering from different type of diseases as accidental injury, skin infection, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases and warm infestation. Conclusion: A
careful examination of the lives of these children will provide a clearer understanding of their disadvantageous life. A better diagnosis of the contributing
factors will help to minimize the extent of the problems and also to develop
innovative approaches and ensure a healthy lifestyle, protection and rehabilitation for those children.

Keywords
Street Children, Life Style, Risk Behavior, Bangladesh

DOI: 10.4236/health.2017.94041

April 7, 2017

S. Chowdhury et al.

1. Introduction
A street child is any child who works and or lives in the street [1]. The term
street children refer to millions of destitute boys and girls who have adopted thestreet as their abode or source of livelihood, or both [2]. Their survival or subsistence depends on their own activities in the street. In low developed and developing countries, street children lie in a special category of children mostly due
to difficult circumstances which is basically an urban phenomenon. The definition of this category of children is quite problematic in the process of being clarified. It can be referred initially as all urban children who spent most of theirtime on the streets, whether working or not. Both the street and working children may often suffer abuse and negligence. Many children in situations of armed
conflict or due to from getting affected by natural disasters become street worker
children. The main point is, all these children have been abandoned in someways [3]. There are two groups of street children. The first group is “Children of
the street”, which refers to children who are homeless, and their source of livelihood is in the streets of urban areas, where they sleep and live. The second
group is “Children on the street”, who work and live on the streets in the daytime but return back home at night where they sleep, although some of them
sleep seldom on the streets (UNCHS, 2000) [4].
Children living on the streets are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. These children also endure augmented risks to their protection andwell-being. Many of them work, often in perilous and low-wage jobs, to sustenance themselves and their families. Street children are often abused or oppressedby policemen who frequently beat them, ask for bribes, take away their plunders
and incriminate them in false charges. Common social perspective towards
street children is full of negligence which further segregates them from the masscommunity. Nonetheless, according to the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC), it is identified that every child is authorized to a
standard of living adequately for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral
and social development [5]. It is evident from the example of developed welfare
societies in the world that to build a prosperous future, the most important thingis to ensure appropriate nurturing of younger generation. The future of every
nation depends on how children prepare themselves to enter into the working
age period. Children who are well-fed, healthy and educated grow up to be productive, innovative workers and responsible adults [6].
According to United Nation’s (UN) estimation, there remain about 150 million street children worldwide [7]. More than half of them are exposed to theworst forms of child labor such as slavery, physical torture, trafficking and prostitution. Extensive criminal networks make substantial profits by engaging
children in commercial sex work, smuggling, stealing, and the distribution ofdrugs and weapons [5] [8]. The existence of street children can be found in almost every part of the world and the majority of them reside in the urban areasof developing countries [9]. In recent years, the problem has been becoming
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S. Chowdhury et al.

much worse due to economic problems, political changes, social unrest and degradation of values, family separations and conflicts, natural disasters and theepidemic spread of diseases [10].
Nearly half of the world child population can be found in the Asia-Pacific region with large numbers of street children. The children on the street, or children who previously lived on the street, are being used in a variety of occupations
including sex industry, beggar, shoeshine boy or flower seller, rubbish picker,
sweat shop worker, petty criminal, etc. The Asia and Pacific region has diversified economic and political systems that consist of totally different contexts as aresult of which children unluckily become dwellers of the streets. The problems
they face on the street, their prospects for moving to the street living, and a wide
range of government as well as civil society responses and interventions has been
considered as a matter of significant research interest. However, the number ofstreet children is still on a rising trend [11].
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is located in South Asia; Dhaka is its
capital as well as the largest city. Despite sustained domestic and international
efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains apoor, overpopulated and ill-governed nation. In case of Asian Development
Bank’s developing member countries, children under 14 years old make up 30%of the population. When this vulnerable group does not get appropriate facilities, they suffer from malnutrition and many other basic life problems which affect their overall growth, community development from the very early life,
which ultimately causes rise of a poor developed nation [12]. Children with elementary factual requirements cannot be optioned within the domiciliary moveto the street [13]. It is estimated that there is more than 600,000 street children
living in Bangladesh, 75% of them live in the nation’s capital, Dhaka [14]. With
increasing landlessness in rural areas and consequent large-scale rural-urban
migration, the number of ‘floating’ people in urban areas of Bangladesh is on theincrease. In particular, the prevalence of destitute children (Tokai) is increasing
rapidly. They are either homeless, having no fixed address, or are residing instreets, slums and squatter settlements. They are not only living in a healthy environment rather they themselves are creating environmental threats to the society as a whole, in various ways [15].
In Dhaka city, about a quarter of the population are slum dwellers. They are ina vicious circle of too little or inadequate food, poor nutrition, polluted waterand air, lack of education, poor sanitation and overall levels of living that can betermed as an environment breeding suspicion and violence. In reality, a slum
contains swamp of mud, excrement, garbage, mosquitoes and disease; and thesehave been growing in the big cities during the last two decades. The conditionsof slum children are worse [16] [17].
Street children are usually treated with utmost negligence as nobody smiles atthem, cuddles them, protect them and give them comfort. They have no helping
hand for their existence and survival except their own efforts. There is a need tomove beyond a vision of these street children, which encompasses the origins of579

S. Chowdhury et al.

their problems in their family, community, school, work and leisure setting hindering their physical and mental development [18]. This study has been performed in response to the pressing need to assess the personal and social consequences of the urban street children. The purpose of this study is to have a closeand empathetic look into the lives of street children and to find out the life styleof street children with a special reference to their risk behaviors.

2. Methodology
2.1. Study Design
It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data collection activities for thisstudy were performed from May to June 2007 in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The
selected areas for interview were city intercept points like Kamalapur Station,
Sadarghat Launch Terminal, Ramna Park, Shishu Park, Dhaka University campus, Shahbagh, New Market, Chandrima Uddyan, Dhanmondi Lake, National
Zoo, Botanical Garden, some road island of Gulistan and Moghbazar, Panthapath, Airport Station, and Saidabad Bus Terminal (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Intercept points in Dhaka city where the survey was conducted among street
children.
580

S. Chowdhury et al.

2.2. Inclusion Criteria• The target population was street children who spend most of their times on
the street or in an open place.
• Age of 8 - 14 years of both sexes.

2.3. Exclusion Criteria
The children below 8 and over 14 years are not included in the study.

2.4. Sample Size and Sampling Technique
Considering the nature of study and length of time the sample size was limited
to 125. The children were approached and the purpose and type of interview
were explained. Whoever participated willingly was included as a respondent.
Sampling technique was non-probable purposive type.

2.5. Data Collection and Analysis
An interview schedule was prepared to guide the researcher during interview. It
was pre-tested among some street children. Almost all questions were structured
in nature except a few open-ended questions. An attempt was also made to relate
their lifestyles, risk behavior and health impact regarding the socio demographic
characteristics. The questionnaire included source of income, occupation, stay
and working place, source of drinking water, sanitation, types of illness, abuseand harassment. The information was collected through face-to-face interview.
The interview not only consisted calling the children and asking them questions,the researcher also attempted to know the children in different territory andpassed a considerable amount of time to establish enough rapport to make them
comfortable so that they can openly express their condition. The researcher also
repeatedly visited around the same area and sometimes passed time gossipingwith the children to develop trust between the researcher and the respondents.
After that, the respondents were requested to tell about their own life throughasking one or two questions or by explaining what type of answer is expectedfrom them. The respondent was allowed to continue freely and the researcher
only asked some probing questions whenever necessary. Each interview required
approximately 45 minutes on an average. In most of the cases the interviews
were recorded with a tape recorder except when it was not allowed or when the
respondent felt uneasy to talk in front of a tape recorder. After finishing an interview, the researcher finally filled up the data sheets with complete information. Additional information was written in an extra sheet and tagged with thequestionnaire. The collected information was compiled, tabulated and analyzed
by the researcher.

2.6. Ethical Considerations
The study was approved by the ethics committee of National Institute of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The survey was conducted anonymously, and data were collected from the street children who agreed to partici581

S. Chowdhury et al.

pate. The data were kept strictly confidential and promised not to use outside ofthis study. The participants were informed that their involvement in the study
was entirely voluntary, and they may choose to withdraw at any time without
hesitation or fear.

3. Results
In this study, a total of 125 participants were enrolled and analyzed. The majority of the children aged between 8 to 10 years (45.6%) and mostly consisted ofboys (87.2%). Mean age was 11.22 (Table 1). Almost half of the children wereTable 1. Socio-demographic profile of the study population.
Parameter

Frequency

Percent

Age-group
8 - 10 years

57

45.6%

11 - 12 years

24

19.2%

13 - 14 years

44

35.2%

Boy

109

87.2%

Girl

16

12.8%

GenderParents living place
Urban

47

37.6%

Rural

52

41.6%

Dead

24

19.2%

Others2

1.6%

Level of education
Illiterate

62

49.6%

Primary38

30.4%

Secondary3

2.4%

Only can sign

7

5.6%

Only can read Arabic

4

3.2%

Only can read

11

8.8%

Use of latrines
Public latrine

58

46.4%

Open space

37

29.6%

Kacha latrine (Unhygienic)

30

24.0%

Amount of earned money (in Bangladeshi Taka)

582

<50

52

41.6%

51 - 100

30

24.0%

101 - 150

19

15.2%

151 - 200

12

9.6%

>200

9

7.2%

S. Chowdhury et al.

found illiterate (49.6%) and a few of them previously entered in secondary
school (2.4%). Table 1 shows 49.6% of respondents had never attended any
school, where as 50.4% had exposure to formal or irregularly attending
non-formal school. Analysis of collected data found that 30.4% of respondents
had exposure up to primary level, 2.4% had exposure up to secondary level, 5.6%of respondents could only write their name as signature, 3.2% received education from religion oriented institutions, therefore, only had Arabic language
reading ability and 8.8% could only read. Their daily earning was extremely low
in local currency Bangladeshi taka (BDT) and most of them (65.6%) have theregular income less than 100 BDT in a day (Table 1). The mean income was
94.26.
Figure 2 shows that about 41% of respondents stated poverty as the prime
factor for them to get out of their family and take place in the street. 13.1% had
come due to being victim of physical abuse by family members and 11.5% due tounaccepted insistence of step mother/father in their personal life. Another 11.5%
were brought by unknown person, 9.8% came with relative, 8.2% to earn money,
3.3% ran away with friends and in 1.6% cases there was no one to look after(Figure 2).
The study shows that, 21.3% of respondents did not stay with their parents
though their parents lived in this city, and rest of the 78.7% lived with their parents. The reasons behind this were: parents wanted them to live their own by
themselves, unbearable influence of stepmother, abuse by family members, anddue to presence of stepfather. Regarding parent’s profession, about fathers’ occupation, 21.5% were involved in micro business, 20.4% were daily laborer, 17.2%
were rickshaw puller, 8% were farmer, 4.3% doing private job, 2.2% in Government job, 3.2% unemployed, and 22.6% were in other different jobs. In case of
mothers, 40.4% were house wives, 32.1% were part time housemaids, 19.3% weredaily laborers, 4.6% were involved in private job and 3.7% did micro business.
Table 2 reveals that 22.4% of respondents stayed at different streets at day
time, 23.2% at railway station, 9.6% at park, 7.2% in University area, another
7.2% in bus station, 6.4% at launch terminal, 4.8% in market places, 4.8% in
footpath and some multiple responses were also seen because the same childpassed the day both in the park and adjacent footpath.
8.2%

3.3%

Poverty

1.6%
41.0%

9.8%

Family abuse
Step mother/father
Unknown person

11.5%
Came with relative
To earn money
11.5%

13.1%

Run away
None to look after

Figure 2. The factors for becoming street children.
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S. Chowdhury et al.

The street children were involved in various types of jobs. According to thedata analysis, 32.8% of respondents worked as cooli/minti (labor), 9.6% were
beggars, 8.8% sold flower, 8% sold chocolate/cigarette, 3.2% were news paper
sellers, 10.4% of respondents had multiple job and 19.2% of respondents used tocollect discarded plastic bottle (Table 3).
In this study, 53.6% of respondents performed daily morning wash with
supply water, 22.4% with tube well water, 1.6% with open lake water, 8% withwater from hotel/shop, 8.8% did not take wash. Among the children, 31.2% took
breakfast on the street, 28% in hotel, 17.6% in shop or terminal, 12% in home,
5.6% at NGO school and another 5.6% at launch terminal. Regarding water
usage, in 53.6% cases source of drinking water was supply water, hotel/shop in
26.4% cases, from tube well in 8% cases, and from both supply water & shop in
12% cases. Regarding sanitation issue, used toilet was public toilet in 46.4% cases
Table 2. The place where the street children stay through out the day.
Place of stay

Frequency

Percentage

Different street

28

22.4%

Launch terminal

8

6.4%

Bus station

9

7.2%

Railway station

29

23.2%

Market6

4.8%Foot path

6

4.8%

Park

12

9.6%

University area

9

7.2%

Different street and market

5

4.0%

Different street and footpath

4

3.2%

Different street and park

9

7.2%

Table 3. The job pattern performed by the street children.

584

Nature of work

Frequency

Percentage

Rag picking

10

8.0%

Flower selling

11

8.8%

News paper selling

4

3.2%

Chocolate/cigarette selling

10

8.0%

Beggar12

9.6%

Cooli/minti

41

32.8%

Rag picking and flower selling

4

3.2%

Rag picking and collect things from dustbin

3

2.4%

Cooli/minti and pick pocketing

6

4.8%

Others24

19.2%

S. Chowdhury et al.

in different places, open places in 29.6% of cases and in 24% of cases open pit latrine. Regarding the way of passing leisure period, 31.2% respondents mentioned
about playing, 27.2% roamed around, 13.6% by watching movie in Cineplex,
8.8% by taking care of younger brother & sister, 7.2% by watching TV, 5.6% byboth roaming around & taking care of younger brother & sister, and 3.2% byboth watching movie and roaming around (Table 4).
During the study time, 87.2% were suffering from different diseases while
12.85% did not mention about existence of any disease. As per the respondents,
44.0% were suffering from accidental injury, 17.4% from skin disease, 13.8%
from gastrointestinal (GIT) problem, 10.1% from fever, 5.5% from hearing
problem, 5.5% from respiratory tract infection and 21.1% from fever with respiratory tract infection (Figure 3).
In case of the treatment seeking pattern, 47.7% of respondents depended onsalesman of the pharmacy, 12.8% on NGO workers, 4.6% on traditional healer,
2.8% on Kabiraj (herbal medicine), 1.8% on homeopath and 28.4% did not takeany type of treatment (Figure 4).
21.1%

Fever & RTI infection

44.0%

Accidental injury
5.5%

Ear problem

17.4%

Skin disease

13.8%

GIT problem
5.5%

RTI

10.1%

Fever

Figure 3. The diseases reported by the street children in this study. RTI:
Respiratory tract infection, GIT: Gastrointestinal tract.

No treatment
Homeopath
Traditional healer

28.4%
1.8%
4.6%

NGO worker

12.8%

Pharmacy person

47.7%

Herbal medicine

2.8%

Hospital or doctor

1.8%

Figure 4. The treatment seeking pattern in this study. NGO: Non governmental organization.
585

S. Chowdhury et al.
Table 4. The way of passing leisure time by the street children.
Way of passing leisure period

Frequency

Percentage

Play

39

31.2%

Cinema or video

17

13.6%

Roaming around

34

27.2%

Watching television

9

7.2%

Take care of younger brother & sister

11

8.8%

Cinema and roaming around

4

3.2%

Roaming around, take care of brother & sister

7

5.6%

Others4

3.2%

As regards of the skin condition, 59.25% of respondents had skin disease/injury marks and 36% had normal skin condition. The scenario of abuse
highlighted that 80.8% of respondents were abused by any means, whereas
19.2% had no such experience. Among the abused, 44% were abused physically,
9.6% of respondents were abused physically, mentally & sexually whereas 27.2%
were abused both physically and mentally.
About their night shelter, 37.6% of respondents mentioned about slums,
14.4% mentioned footpath, 11.2% of respondents’ night shelter was railway station, for 7.2% of respondents night shelter was bus station, for 5.6% market, for4.8% lunch terminal, for 4.8% NGO club, and for 12% night shelter were other
different places. This study reveals that, street children usually prefer to sleep
with other street children in different night shelters. In slum area, 30.4% respondents used to sleep with family members, 12.0% slept alone in different night
shelters where 9.6% used to sleep with friends and 4.0% slept with other adults
in different night shelters.

4. Discussion
In this study, the ratio of the sex interrelates the findings of other national andinternational studies. Commonly, the boys are greater and the girls are less in
number in the street all over the world. A study in Brazil [18] suggests that families try to keep girls at home either to help the housework or to avoid their falling into prostitution.
Most of the young girls feel insecure in the street. A study on Calcutta’s street
children [19] stated that street girls without exception were disgusted with thelife they lead and each one of them was keen to come out of her present life.
Furthermore, another study in Bangladesh [20] identified the familial psychological reason behind this phenomenon; that is those are parents with same
psychological perception who send their son to earn money on the street of a big
city or find a job for their daughter as a maid.
In case of this study, about two third of the respondents came from the villages either with the objective of earning their livelihood or because of being victims of child abuse. Poverty seems to be the main cause of this migration to ur586

S. Chowdhury et al.

ban areas. The claim is very well evidenced by the distributions of parents’ occupation, which invariably shows that the parents of these children were holding
low earning jobs. The ongoing economic hardship in the family, in the firstplace, along with the opportunities of earning attracted the children to come outof their family to the street. It is seen that most of the respondents’ mothers werehousewives that appeared to be non-income generating role. As a result, themothers had to be dependent on others (husband/relatives) and were unable tosupport their children. Consequently, the mothers encouraged their children togo out of the family and look for earning opportunities in the city streets [21]. In
some instances, the respondents were forced by their parents to leave the family
to seek out the opportunities of earning. The previous studies in Bangladesh [22]identified the attributes for being on the street as poverty, abandoned child, step
mother/father and victims of abuse or neglect or migration from village to city.
The researcher found that children do not like to change their dwelling places
frequently. All the interviews had been made at daytime, which was mainly theworking time for all these children. However, all of them were found very nearto their dwelling places. It was found from the interviews that there were somefactors, which dictated this distinguished behavior of the children. After being
settled in one place with accommodation, they felt insecure to change the place
and to be unsettled again. Their interaction with other children of the same area
was very friendly and sympathetic. They protected one another from unnecessary troubles during work time and also at night. So, this peer group feeling andprotection restricts them from changing the shelter frequently, unless it is absolutely necessary. Consequently, sometimes it was not easily possible for them tochange their dwelling places.
This behavior of the children is probably true for all the Mega cities of theworld. A study on Mexico City said that street children did not wander erratically throughout the city [18]. Their place of work was determined by a variety ofconditions, such as the wishes of some unseen employer, or by the extent of thearea where friends carried out commercial or begging activities. All these factors
concerning the lives of street children indicated normal human needs for friends
and association, sense for safety and security, needs for job expertise and earning. Although they were rootless in terms of family and home, still, they were
not baseless in terms of association they grew with and the peer feeling they
possessed.
At night more than half of the children lived without any of their family
members; out of whom, few of them slept completely alone. All the shelters like,park, station, slum, market, verandas, terminals, were almost open spaces andnot protective from weather in any circumstances. Life in the street obviously
forces these children to be exposed to various unhealthy and injurious elements
like smoke, dust, sun, rain, etc. While asked about the problems of street life thatthey encountered, a boy innocently uttered, “It is too cold during winter.”
All the children needed to work to meet their daily expenditure, mainly
low-income jobs. The most popular works for these street children of both sexes
were begging. More than half of the responses had come for the above works.
587

S. Chowdhury et al.

Other occupations like newspaper or chocolate hawkers, shoeshine boys, popcorn seller were also common. For example, male children were more involved
with the works like porter of the stations, terminals and markets, some anti-social earning like muscleman ship, smuggling, pick pocketing, stealing. On
the other hand for the girl it is easy to become commercial sex worker. These
diversified nature of jobs had a direct influence on the daily routine of thesechildren. Consequently, their distribution of working hours and total sleeping
hours varied widely depending on the nature of the work they do.
Most of the respondent reported that they were suffering from some diseases.
These diseases were mainly skin disease, respiratory problems, abdominal disorder, eye and ear problem (Figure 3). Most of the children had visible skin disease. There were some factors involving the lives of these street children to become infected with these skin diseases commonly. They are overcrowded living
condition, unhealthy sleeping area, irregular bath, and less changing of cloths. It
is evident that these children were living in an overall poor condition and theskin problem that they had was “scabies” which was very infectious and contagious. So, the spreading of this disease was easily possible. Also, the children
commonly had infected cuts and bruises that were considered as a skin problem
in this study. On the contrary, a Mexico City study reported that respiratory andgastro-intestinal problem were the main health problems, which arose from thisenvironment (pollution and contaminated food and water) [18].
The common abdominal diseases that had come out through interviewing thechildren are abdominal pains, chronic diarrhea, worms, and acidity. The primary reasons for having these abdominal disorders were eating in the hotel, eatingof thrown away foods and rotten foods. Furthermore, the main respiratory
problems were common cold, cough, fever & asthma. Also, some isolated healthproblems like night blindness, impaired vision, earache and deafness were
present among few of the children. A study in Kenya determined almost thesame health problems of street children as respiratory and skin disease were theleading causes of morbidity [23]. Another study in Bangladesh reported that thestreet children not only had different types of skin diseases but also some sexually transmitted disease (STD) like hepatitis and syphilis [24].
As a result of these diseases, the children had to use some sort of treatment facilities. Most of them were dependent on salesman of pharmacy. Some of themused to avail traditional treatments like “Kabirazi” or “homeopathy”. Now a day
they also prefer hospital and NGO worker.
The children frequently experienced verbal or physical abuse from adults
whenever they used to take a seat in front of a shop, lean on the cars, enter apublic building, etc. The children felt that they were constantly misbehaved by
the adults [25]. They have faced a daily routine of exploitation and violence andlike other street children in the world often ended up in a life of crime. The report says it is impossible to calculate exactly how many street children there are
in total, but it is generally thought to be approaching two million [26].
The street children were in a favorable condition for experiencing sex. The
588

S. Chowdhury et al.

study identified several ways of having these experiences. For male, the main
reason was relation with commercial sex worker and for females; the main reason was currently working or previously working as commercial sex worker. The
free access of sex in the street actually threatened the lives of these children as
well as the society. Relating with the other city studies of the world, this group ofchildren of Dhaka can be considered as one of the specific social group who aremost susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and AIDS. A global statistics specified these social groups and reported teenagers especially urban street
children are at particular risk for STDs [27].
Usually, street children preferred independent living. So, when their incomerose, in search for enjoyment, they usually felt attracted to different types of addiction. Mainly they were smokers but there were evidence of taking drugs
among the children. Interestingly, the children reported that these drugs werereadily available for them in the pharmacies.

5. Study Limitation
In this research the study areas do not represent the whole Dhaka city and thesample size was too small which was the main limitation. Again, no nutritional
data has been measured and the study questionnaires were not in-depth probing
pattern due to time limitation.

6. Conclusion
The study findings advocate that poverty is the foremost reason behind imposing the children to stay and work on street. Regarding health, most of the street
children were suffering from different type of diseases while accidental injuries
and skin infection are topping the list. In consideration to the country context, it
can be alleged that government should take some obligatory steps to secure theirlife and as well as social leaders can be involved to advance their lifestyle.

7. Recommendation
The physiognomies and necessities of street children are very diverse. They needdifferent types of retorts. They strive to attain education, look after their health,enjoy frivolous occasions, swap their jobs. On the other hand, street children
entail distinct devotion for vocation instruction, masculinity edification, andknowledge about how to pact with family skirmishes. In a study, it was suggested
that welfare department of government bodies (GO), non-government organization (NGOs) and respective families can take the initiatives for resolving andprevent the increase of street children. GO, NGOs and international human activist bodies can evaluate the existing burden and plan for appropriate solutions.
Government Welfare department can organize committees, hold conference andplan common program. Government should develop some strategies about educational accessibility, nutritional education, behavioral edification, and living
amenities for street children. Moreover, safeguards should be needed during589

S. Chowdhury et al.

working or living on the street to prevent risks like physical, moral, social anddevelop themselves as a self-protector. NGOs can establish education centers
and awareness program. International bodies can hold workshop, provide financial and technical support to government. To get better solutions macro, medium and micro level planning for long-term, mid-term and short-term projects
need to be implemented. Education for the parents on attitude with children, social and cultural problems and reinforcement of the child protection law can resolve the problems.

Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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