Abstract :
Introduction: Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and
its determinants, and thereby improve their health.1
Adolescent girls should also be enabled to increase
control over their health. We need to mediate on their behalf to ensure easy access to relevant information
and care related to health problems of adolescent girls.
Objectives: (1) To ascertain the information needs about puberty-related health problems among the
adolescent school-going girls of Chandigarh. (2) To develop, validate and introduce an educational booklet
among the adolescent school-going girls addressing their healthcare needs in a holistic way.
Methodology: A preliminary study was conducted from Jan 2015 to May 2015 in four schools of Chandigarh
(30 girls from each school). Based on the results of this study, a comprehensive booklet has been developed,
validated and published covering all the puberty-related aspects of girls in a holistic way. The booklet will
be introduced in 52 schools of UT Chandigarh - 26 government and 26 private schools. 16 schools have
been covered till date.
Results: The major problems faced by girls at puberty include irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea,
excess facial hair growth, obesity and acne. The booklet was developed and validated by 10 experts and
14 respondents with validation score ranging from 8 to 10. The booklet was then introduced among 16
schools and the response was quite good and encouraging. Teachers even asked for extra copies of the
booklet and said “Hum library funds utilize karke aur books mangwa lenge”.
Conclusion: The girls showed eagerness to know about their health problems. There is a great demand for
the information booklet as it seemed to be a handy helpline for girls to solve their many health problems.
Keyword :
Adolescent girls, Puberty, Menstruation, PCOS, Self-esteem