A STUDY ON MENSTRUAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES AMONG RURAL ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN BURDWAN DISTRICT, WESTBENGAL.

Background: Menstruation and menstrual hygiene is one of the important determinants of women’s reproductive health but various cultural taboos and socio-cultural restrictions resulting in adolescent girls remaining ignorant of the scientific facts and hygienic health practices, which sometimes result into adverse health outcomes. Objective:-To study the perception and practices related to menstruation and menstruation hygiene among rural adolescent girls. Methods:-Adolescent Girls belong to the age group 13–16 years who had menarche for at least one year at the time of study were selected for the study. Data was collected through pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire through personal interview technique. Result:-45% of respondents knew about menstrual cycle before their menarche. In most cases (60%) their first informant were their peer group followed by mothers. Most of the girls in the study were not aware of the cause and the source of the bleeding. A majority of them had knowledge about the use of sanitary pads but still now 34% of them use old cloths and use those cloths. All of them practices one or more cultural taboos and restrictions related to menstruation. Conclusion:-The knowledge on menstruation among adolescent girls of the study area is poor and the menstrual practices folled by them are unhygienic.So, there is a need to emphasize on menstrual hygiene during policy formulation for adolescents health programmes at community level especially in rural community.