ABSTRACT
Throughout recorded history, there has been the push and pull of using our children for working in industry as if they were small adults and could help sustain the family. Throughout the industrial revolution and even afterwards in industrialized nations, children wearing highly flammable clothing were forced to work under intolerable conditions, such as long hours in filthy sweatshops, under extremes of temperature and poor lighting, and around open fires, and this led to injuries, disease, and early death. The conditions of the 19th century and 20th century led to a variety of commissions that reported that the rate of sickness and death among children needed to be sharply reduced. New laws were passed and working conditions for children improved. The World Health Organization Task Force for the Protection of Children's Environmental Health organized the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, Hungary in 2004 to be totally devoted to children's health issues.
