Educating for the future: adolescent girls’ health and education in West Bengal, India
-
Chris A. Rees
,
Katelyn N. Long
Abstract
Adolescent girls in India carry a disproportionate burden of health and social risks; girls that do not finish secondary education are more likely to have an earlier age of sexual initiation, engage in risky sexual behavior, and consequentially be at greater risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes. This paper presents a comparison of girls in school and girls not in school from 665 participants in rural West Bengal, India. The social cognitive theory (SCT), a comprehensive theoretical model, was used as a framework to describe the personal, behavioral, and environmental factors affecting the lives of these adolescent girls. There were significant differences between girls in and out of school in all three categories of the SCT; girls in school were more likely to have heard of sexually transmitted diseases or infections than girls not in school (p<0.0001). Girls in school were also more likely than girls not in school to boil water before drinking (p=0.0078), and girls in school lived in dwellings with 2.3 rooms on average, whereas girls not in school lived in dwellings with only 1.7 rooms (p<0.0001). Indian adolescent girls who are not in school are disadvantaged both economically and by their lack of health knowledge and proper health behaviors when compared with girls who are still in school. In addition, to programs to keep girls in school, efforts should also be made to provide informal education to girls not in school to improve their health knowledge and behaviors.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Community singing: what does that have to do with health?
- Review Articles
- Internet use, misuse, and addiction in adolescents: current issues and challenges
- Early executive function deficit in preterm children and its association with neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood: a literature review
- Original Articles
- Access to contraception and HIV testing among young women in a peri-urban district of Uganda
- Addressing the needs of adolescent mothers and their offspring in Nigeria: a community-based study
- Parental beliefs and knowledge about male human papillomavirus vaccination in the US: a survey of a pediatric clinic population
- Educating for the future: adolescent girls’ health and education in West Bengal, India
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice of cervical cancer screening among Greek students: a short report
- Environment factors associated with adolescents’ body mass index, physical activity and physical fitness in Kuching South City, Sarawak: a cross-sectional study
- Reading increases ocular illuminance during light treatment
- Sex-related perceptions associated with sexual activity status among Japanese adolescents who heavily use text messaging
- If I value myself, I value school: The protective effect of self-esteem among abused females
- The poverty puzzle: the surprising difference between wealthy and poor students for self-efficacy and academic achievement
- Exploring resilience: strengths of trafficking survivors in Cambodia
- Deliberate self-poisoning: a study from Nablus
