Perception and practices relating to hepatitis B Infection among in-school adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria

Objective: This study examined the perception and practices relating to Hepatitis B infection among In-school adolescents in Ogun State, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 300 in-school adolescents selected by a multi-stage sampling method. Data were elicited using a pretested self-administered questionnaire which included questions relating to respondents' risky practices, and a 35-point Hepatitis B perception scale. Descriptive statistics, as well as Chi-square statistics, were generated using IBM SPSS Version 23, and the significance level was set at 0.05.Results: The mean age of the respondents was14.31 ± 1.73years and slightly over half (51.7%) were females. Less than half (45%) of the adolescents perceived themselves to be susceptible to Hepatitis B infection, while 31% perceived Hepatitis B infection to be a serious disease. Almost half (49%) of the adolescents had unfavorable perceptions. The most common risky practices among the respondents were sharing skin-piercing instruments with their family members (79%) and friends (68.7%). There are significant associations between sex (gender) and risky practices such as the practices of unsafe sex (X2= 9.11; p=0.10); having multiple sexual partners (X2= 12.08;p =0.02); and sharing skin-piercing instruments (X2= 5.52;p=0.01) with more males reporting the above practices than females. Conclusion/Recommendation: To minimize the identified risky practices and unfavorable perception, educational intervention programs aimed at promoting Hepatitis B virus preventive behaviors and increasing the level of perception of vulnerability and seriousness of HBV infection among in-school adolescents should be conducted.

Assessment of the awareness and preparedness for Menache among female students in Secondary Schools in Ile-Ife, Osun State Nigeria

@#Generally, the mean age at menarche appears to be falling, and many girls attained menarche unprepared. This study assessed the preparedness of female secondary school students in Ile-Ife in Osun State towards menarche. This cross–sectional descriptive study was carried out among 797 female students selected through multistage sampling method. Semi-structured, self-administered pretested questionnaires were used as research instrument. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 23.0. Mean age of respondents was 18.4 ± 2.7 years. A total of 89.6% (714) of all the respondents were informed about menarche before its onset; 73.2% (527) of them were informed by their mothers. About 69.3% of the respondents had good knowledge score of menarche while only 65.9% of them were scored as prepared for menarche. Predictors of being prepared for menarche include higher age at menarche, and being pre- informed about menarche. There is still need to fill the existing knowledge gap among the respondents through adequate school health education program.

Gender perspectives and health literacy proficiencies of In-school adolescents in Osun State, Nigeria

Health literacy proficiency has been linked with positive adolescent health outcomes. Strategies aimed towards improving health literacy have been suggested as a major way of achieving adolescent health and wellbeing. Previous research has identified a nexus between socio-demographics, education and health literacy proficiency. This study therefore, explores existing relationships between gender, socio-economic class and the health literacy proficiency levels of in-school adolescents in Osun State.Mixed method involving questionnaire survey and Focus group discussion were used to obtain data from 1,200 randomly selected in-school adolescents from 12 high schools in Osun State, Nigeria. The survey instrument was an adaptation of the electronic health literacy scale (eHEALS). Results show only 1,186 (98.8%) questionnaire were found analysable. Mean age of respondents was 15 + 0.6 with 616(51.1%) being female. Overall health literacy proficiency was low with only 447(37.7%) having a high level of health literacy proficiency. Quantitative survey shows that both gender and socio-economic background have negative statistically significant relationship with health literacy proficiency. Similarly, FGD revealed that females generally have lower health literacy proficiency when compared with males. The study concludes that gender based interventions for female adolescents could reduce health and educational disparities which will contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4 and 5.

Awareness, gender variations, consequences of sexual risk behavior and adopted solutions among senior secondary schools adolescents in Owerri, Nigeria

In our area, there is dearth of accurate sex education that could equip adolescents in making informed decisions on sexual issues. This scenario has been linked to a high prevalence of sexual risk behaviors, consequences and poor choices with regard to solutions. Objective: To determine the awareness, gender variations, consequences of sexual risk behavior, and adopted solutions among senior secondary school adolescents in Owerri, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a cross sectional survey of 384 in-school adolescents in Owerri, Nigeria, selected using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using pretested self-administered semi- structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.22 (p<0.05). Results: The majority of adolescents, i.e. 306 (82.5%), were aware of sexual risk behaviors, 340 (91.6%) had received some sex education, and 296 (79.8%) were aware of contraceptives. Key sources of information on sexuality were schools and parents. In total, 54 (14.1%) participants were sexually active, 12 (22.2%) reported ever having an STI, and 9 (75%) had been treated in hospital. Also, 8 (14.8%) of the 54 had dealt with a pregnancy; 7 (87.5%) had undergone an abortion, 3 (42.9%) in a hospital. Sexual risk behaviors among males were associated with age (p=0.002), school type (p=0.002), and alcohol intake (p=0.000), while the residence of the parents had a stronger influence among females (p=0.014). Conclusions: This study found high awareness of sexual issues, mainly sourced from schools and parents. Associations were made between sexual risk behaviors and gender differences (age, school type, and alcohol intake in males, parental residence among females). The consequences of sexual risk behaviors were early pregnancy and STIs, with poor solutions adopted.

Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dietary fibre intake among Malaysian rural and urban adolescents

Introduction: Awareness of the importance of dietary fibre (DF) in health among adolescents is seldom reported in Malaysia. This study aimed to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of DF intake between Malaysian rural and urban school-going adolescents. Pulau Pangkor in Perak and Damansara in Selangor were randomly selected as rural and urban schools, respectively. Methods: A total of 305 school adolescents with a mean age of 13.5±0.6 years were randomly selected from rural (72 Malay, 85 Chinese) and urban (86 Malay, 62 Chinese) schools completed socio-demographic, validated KAP on DF intake questionnaire, as well as a 24-hour dietary recall. Results: Adolescents from both areas have moderate knowledge (54.4±11.3%), positive attitude (78.7±13.1%) and good practice (65.8±19.9%) scores towards DF intake. Although rural adolescents had significantly (p=0.022) higher DF intake (7.8±3.5 g) compared to urban adolescents (6.9±3.5 g), their DF intake was still lower than the Malaysian recommendation of 20-30 g/day. The attitude of DF intake of rural (r=0.390) and urban (r=0.370) adolescents showed significant positive correlations with practice score of DF intake. While a significant correlation was found between the practice score and DF intake (r=0.191, p=0.017), no significant correlation was found between knowledge and attitude scores with DF intake. Conclusion: Public health authorities and schools should raise awareness on health benefit of consuming DF to promote an increase in DF consumption among school adoles

Sociodemographic Determinants Of Obesity Among 12 Years Old School Adolescents In Kuala Terengganu And Besut Districts, Malaysia

Worldwide prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased substantially over decades. Addressing potential risk factors of obesity among adolescents is very important for a successful intervention program in this population. The present study aimed to identify the sociodemographic determinants of obesity among school adolescents in Terengganu. A cross-sectional survey involving 3,798 school adolescents age 12 years old from 136 government primary schools in Kuala Terengganu and Besut districts were carried out from November 2014 to June 2015. For the purpose of this paper, the data for 2,842 school adolescents classified as either normal BMI (< +1SD) (n= 2,305) or obese (+2SD) (n= 537) based on WHO cut-off points were taken for analysis. Sociodemographic information on subjects and their parents were obtained from self-reported questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were conducted by Physical Education teachers and uploaded into a specific developed database. The prevalence of obesity was relatively high in both genders in this study. Binary logistic regression analysis found gender, parental BMI, household income, household size and maternal working status were independently associated with obesity among school adolescents in this population. In the final model, being male, having working mother, and having obese parents were identified to be potential risk factors for obesity whilst having large household size lower the risk of obesity among these adolescents. Prevention programs are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of obesity in adolescent and interventions should now focus on family member as well mainly the parents.

Sociodemographic Determinants Of Obesity Among 12 Years Old School Adolescents In Kuala Terengganu And Besut Districts, Malaysia

@#Worldwide prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased substantially over decades. Addressing potential risk factors of obesity among adolescents is very important for a successful intervention program in this population. The present study aimed to identify the sociodemographic determinants of obesity among school adolescents in Terengganu. A cross-sectional survey involving 3,798 school adolescents age 12 years old from 136 government primary schools in Kuala Terengganu and Besut districts were carried out from November 2014 to June 2015. For the purpose of this paper, the data for 2,842 school adolescents classified as either normal BMI (< +1SD) (n= 2,305) or obese (+2SD) (n= 537) based on WHO cut-off points were taken for analysis. Sociodemographic information on subjects and their parents were obtained from self-reported questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were conducted by Physical Education teachers and uploaded into a specific developed database. The prevalence of obesity was relatively high in both genders in this study. Binary logistic regression analysis found gender, parental BMI, household income, household size and maternal working status were independently associated with obesity among school adolescents in this population. In the final model, being male, having working mother, and having obese parents were identified to be potential risk factors for obesity whilst having large household size lower the risk of obesity among these adolescents. Prevention programs are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of obesity in adolescent and interventions should now focus on family member as well mainly the parents.

Prevalencia de obesidad y nivel de actividad física en escolares adolescentes / Prevalence of obesity and level of activity physical in school adolescents

El objetivo del trabajo fue cuantificar la prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad y su relación con el nivel de actividad física realizada en días lectivos en un grupo de estudiantes de Ourense (Galicia, Noroeste de España). Participaron 111 escolares de 5º y 6º curso de educación primaria, con una edad media de 11,3 años; el 42,3% eran niñas y el 57,7% niños. Se determinó el peso, la talla y el índice de masa corporal (IMC). Para la definición de la obesidad y el sobrepeso se utilizaron como puntos de corte los valores percentilados del IMC para la edad (IMC/E). El nivel de actividad física (AF) se determinó mediante un cuestionario-entrevista validado para su utilización en la población infantil española. El 38,7% de la población presentó sobrepeso u obesidad; aunque la prevalencia fue mayor en niñas no se encontraron diferencias significativas para el IMC entre sexos. El 61,2% de los escolares fueron inactivos o muy inactivos, siendo mayor este porcentaje entre las niñas, para las que el gasto energético medio (METS equivalente metabólico expresado en Kcal.kg.-1hora-1) es significativamente menor que para los niños.

The objective of the work was to quantify the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a group of students of Ourense and its relation with the physical activity levels during school. 111 schoolares in the 5th and 6th year of primary school, with an average age of 11.3 years participated. 42.3% were women and 57.7% men. Weight, height and body mass (BMI) index were determined. Overweight and obesity were defined using as criteria the value of BMI-specific percentiles for age and sex. Physical activity (PA) level was assessed using an interview-questionnaire designed to be used with Spanish child population. 38.7% of the population presented overweight or obesity, and although the prevalence was higher in girls, no significant differences for the BMI between sexes were found. Results revealed the 61.2% of the adolescents to be inactive or very inactive, this percentage was higher for the girls than for the boys; for which the average energy expenditure (metabolic equivalent METS expressed in Kcal.kg-1 hour) is significantly smaller than the average for boys.