A Study to Assess the Knowledge of the School Going Girls regarding Menarche, Pubertal Changes and Problems Faced by them in a Selected School of New Delhi

Abstract

Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child’s body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. The major landmark of puberty for females is menarche, the onset of menstruation, which occurs on an average between ages 12-13 years. Education regarding menarche and pubertal changes aims to reduce the risks of potentially negative outcome from sexual behavior such as fear and stigma of menstruation. Keeping this in mind, a study was conducted to assess the knowledge of the school going girls regarding menarche, pubertal changes and problem faced by them. The objectives of the study were to assess the level of knowledge of school going girls regarding menarche and pubertal changes and to assess the problems faced by school going girls during menstruation. The setting of the present study was Kendriya Vidyalaya, Tughlakabad, New Delhi, India. The tools used for data collection were, a structured Performa to determine the demographic data and problems faced during menstruation and a structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge regarding menarche and pubertal changes, of 30 school going girls. The study findings revealed that majority (68.4%) of the school going girls had inadequate knowledge regarding pubertal changes, and menarche and thus, faced many problems while undergoing these changes. The major conclusions drawn on the basis of the findings of the study were that literacy rate of parents have a huge impact on knowledge level regarding menarche and pubertal changes of school going girls and girls having adequate knowledge found to be facing less problems regarding pubertal change.