Abstract :
Teenagers in India tend to be poorly informed about their bodies and matters
related to sexuality and health. The information they have is often incomplete
and hence, they are confused. According to Planning Commission of India,
teenagers are about one fourth of the total population and have major
implication for the future, since reproductive and sexual behavior during
adolescence have far reaching effects. This is especially relevant in India where
reproductive health has been considered synonymous with women’s health and
hence reproductive health of men has received little attention. Typically boys are
neither encouraged to talk about pubertal changes nor offered space to ask
questions or seek information about these changes.
The present study is based on a cross sectional survey conducted in Varanasi
during 2010- 11 for assessing the knowledge and attitude of teenage boys about
pubertal changes, nocturnal ejaculation and masturbation. A total of 542
teenager boys belonging to the age group of 14- 20 years were actively
interviewed with structured questionnaire. Among study participants, 90 percent
said that they experienced puberty. The mean age of first nocturnal ejaculation
was 15 years with minimum 14 years and maximum 17 years, and 38 percent
said that it is a natural process. About 52 percent participants said that this is a
sign of masculinity, 11 percent said that this is harmful to body and related to
diseases. About 81 percent participants said that they knew about masturbation
and minimum age for first experience of masturbation was 14 years, maximum
was 16 years and mean age was 15.24 years.
Keyword :
Pubertal change, sexual and reproductive knowledge.