EFFECT OF MENSTRUAL HYGIENE ON THE HEALTH STATUS OF FEMALE ADOLESCENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE

Abstract

Poor menstrual hygiene caused by a lack of education on the issue, persisting taboos and stigma, limited access to hygienic menstrual products and poor sanitation infrastructure undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls around the world. The research study examined the effect of Menstrual Hygiene on the Health Status of female adolescents in Senior Secondary Schools in the Zaria Local Government area of Kaduna State. A survey research design was used for the study. The target population comprised female adolescents in Senior Secondary. One Hundred (100
female) adolescents were drawn from public and private Senior Secondary Schools within the study area who volunteered to respond to the research tool. The instrument for data collection was the researchers’ developed questionnaire tagged Questionnaire on the Effect of Menstrual Hygiene on the Health Status of Female Adolescents. “EMHHSFA” which had a reliability of 0.74. Descriptive statistics of simple percentages, means and standard deviation were used. The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance in which Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used. The findings revealed that the majority of the respondents were taught about menstrual hygiene at home and then followed at school. It was
also revealed that the majority of the respondents used sanitary pads as absorbent during menstruation. It was also revealed that a significant relationship exists between menstrual hygiene and health status in female adolescents. It was recommended among others that menstrual hygiene should be emphasized with regard to teaching Health Education at Senior Secondary Schools, specifically girls’ schools.