The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Adolescent health plan launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 04, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Adolescent health plan launched

Staff Reporter

Survey conducted in Kollam, Alappuzha and Wayanad districts

Less than 50 per cent of parents had told their children about the normal physical changes during adolescence 83 per cent of girls had at least one menstrual problem, only 30 per cent mothers knew about it 5.2 per cent boys and 10.2 per cent girls reported sexual abuse, only 3.2 per cent of parents knew about it 27 per cent of married male in the study had extra marital relations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The District Adolescent Health Plan, which focuses on improving the life skills and reproductive and sexual health of Plus Two students and adolescent school-drop-outs in the district through awareness building and counselling of both the youngsters as well as their parents, has been launched in the district.

The adolescent health plan has been formulated by the Child Development Centre at Medical College Hospital after conducting extensive surveys among adolescents in representative districts. The plan will be implemented through continuing education centres in the rural areas.

As part of the plan, 600 awareness classes are to be held in the district during August and September, targeting an adolescent population of 10,000.

Though adolescent groups constitutes one fifth of the total population, none of the existing health policies or programmes are specifically targeted for this group.

Adolescent groups are susceptible to unhealthy and risky behaviour like unsafe sex, substance abuse and violence. Vulnerability of the group is also increased by their lack of correct information and knowledge.

The district plan thus aims at equipping adolescents with proper information about reproductive and sexual health issues. The plan has been based on the findings of a cross-sectional community survey on Reproductive Sexual Health conducted among 4,225 adolescents of 10 years to 24 years and 3,625 parents of the unmarried adolescents, especially the mother, in the districts of Kollam, Alappuzha and Wayanad.

The study found that even among the 20-24 age group, few knew about the normal physical changes that take place in boys and girls during puberty and that less than 50 per cent of parents had told their children about these things.

Forty five per cent of girls did not know about menstruation till they had their first cycle. 83 per cent of girls had at least one problem related to menstruation but only about 30 per cent of mothers knew about it.

For adolescents, friends were the main source of information on reproductive sexual health, irrespective of gender or age. Knowledge about HIV was fairly good among them, but les than 10 per cent knew about other sexually transmitted diseases.

The study found that 13.4 per cent of the unmarried adolescents had had intimate physical contact, while 27 per cent of the married male had extra marital relations.

About 5.2 per cent boys and 10.2 per cent girls reported having been sexually abused but only 3.2 per cent of the parents knew about it.

The study recommended that Family Life Education classes appropriate to the age and in a graded manner be conducted at the school for school-going adolescents, at the Anganawadi for out-of-school girls and at the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan affiliated youth clubs for the out-of-school adolescent boys.

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