Cultural and Environmental Practices in Rural Peru that Influence Children’s Health; [Práticas culturais e ambientais na zona rural do Peru que influenciam a saúde das crianças]

Salazar-Romero L.D.R.; Díaz-Vásquez M.A.; Vega-Ramírez A.S.; Díaz-Manchay R.J. · Cultura de los Cuidados (2025) · DOI: 10.14198/cuid.28089

Resumen

Introduction: Some culturally rooted environmental practices cause childhood diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, dermatitis, unintentional domestic injuries, etc. Objectives: To describe the cultural and environmental practices in rural Peru that influence children’s health. Methodology: Qualitative, descriptive research, the setting was the homes of 15 mothers, rural residents of the northern coast of Peru; the sample was delimited by saturation and redundancy, non-probabilistic sampling for convenience. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and processed according to content analysis. Results: A) Risk to children’s health due to the cultural and environmental practice of open-fire cooking, B) Cultural and environmental practice in the disposal of excrement, C) Custom of burning solid waste. Conclusions: Most mothers in rural areas cook on open fires and use firewood, which is a risk for the children who remain with them. They dispose of excrement in cesspools due to the lack of sanitation. They also show inadequate management of solid waste, which is disposed of in open spaces that encourage the proliferation of vectors, and is subsequently burned.

Instituciones: Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo