. Shabnam Omidvar; . Afsaneh Bakhtiari; . Mojgan Firouzbakht; . Fatemeh Nasiri Amir; . Khyrunnisa Begum
Volume 7, Issue 5 , September and October 2017, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a period of life that is a bridge between childhood and adulthood.India has the world’s largest adolescent girl’s population, and adolescent ...
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INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a period of life that is a bridge between childhood and adulthood.India has the world’s largest adolescent girl’s population, and adolescent girls are an importantvulnerable group of population. Perceived health is a predictor of morbidity and mortality in adultsand has been an important marker of the health status in population health studies for decades. Theaim of the study was to describe adolescent’s perception of health and association between somefactors such as nutrition status, socioeconomic status (SES), and health status. As their perceptionof health discomfort affects their health behavior and self‑care, therefore, their health status is animportant matter to discuss.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑sectional study was conducted in urban areas from a majorcity in South India. Six hundred and fifty adolescent female students aged 10–19 years formed thestudy population. Standardized self‑reporting questionnaires were used to obtain relevant dataregarding demographic features, SES, and health status. BMI calculated for each individual. Thedata were analyzed using SPSS version 16.RESULTS: About 83.3% of participants ranked their health status as good to excellent. A majorityof the girls had one or more problems related to their menstrual cycles. The most common occurringproblem was headache (45.3%). 47.8% of participants exhibited symptoms of mild insomnia.Strong significant association between nutritional status and SES was found. Higher percentage ofundernourished adolescents belonged to low SES.CONCLUSION: Adolescents are expected to enjoy good health, but this does not seem to be the casein the developing countries like India, where poverty, malnutrition, and repeated infection are rampant.Majority of the problems such as healthy nutrition and self‑care can be solved by community‑basedprograms, health education, and food fortification.
