Knowledge of Reproductive Health among Adolescent School Girls of Jammu District

Adolescence is the period in which foundations can be laid for a long and healthy life. It is a prime time for health promotion and for establishment of healthy behavior that will influence health in later years. It has been seen that adolescents have negative attitude towards balanced diet and are not aware of nutritional requirement, personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene, etc. These years have been recognized as a special period in the life cycle of adolescent girls as it requires specific and special attention. This transition phase makes them vulnerable to a number of problems, for example, psychosocial problems, general and reproductive health problems, and sexuality related problems. Hence the present study was conducted to assess the knowledge of adolescent girls regarding reproductive health. The study was conducted in government schools of Jammu city through predesigned multiple choice questionnaires. The knowledge test included questions relating to reproductive system, menstruation/ menarche/ pubertal changes, teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortion, RTIs, STDs and HIV/AIDS. The areas where they scored low were identification of reproductive health, knowledge about menstruation, RTIs, STDs and HIV/AIDS. The mean score revealed that the girls had just average knowledge about Reproductive Health. This is a matter of great concern. Thus Reproductive health problems should be discussed among adolescents, especially for girls through health clubs, seminars, lectures, counseling and intervention programmes at school level.