RESUMEN
Nearly half of pregnancies amongst adolescent girls between ages 15 and 19 are unplanned, one outcome of this is unsafe abortion. Nigerian adolescents aged 15-19 have higher proportion of unmet needs for contraception than those aged 20-24, raising pertinent questions on their perceived susceptibility to pregnancy. Using the Health Belief Model, this article examined the effect of perceived susceptibility to pregnancy on modern contraceptive use among adolescents in Nigeria. Weighted data for 983 sexually active unmarried adolescents aged 15-19 years was extracted from the 2018 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey. Binomial logistic regression was modelled to test for this relationship. Results showed that there is no significant association between perceived susceptibility and modern contraceptive use. However, adolescents who make use of the internet (AOR=1.659, CI 1.046-2.630), and those who had a sexual partner (AOR=4.051, CI 1.960-8.639), more than one partner in the last 12 months (AOR=6.037, CI 2.292-15.902) were more likely to use modern contraceptive. Young adolescents in Nigeria needs to be sensitized about reproductive health and the importance of the use of contraceptive.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Despite being preventable, anaemia is a major public health problem that affects a sizable number of children under-five years globally and in Tanzania. This study examined the maternal factors associated with the risk of anaemia among under-five children in Tanzania. We also assessed whether higher maternal education could reduce the risks of anaemia among children of women with poor socio-economic status. METHODS: Data was drawn from the 2015-16 Tanzania demographic and health survey and malaria indicator survey for 7916 children under five years. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated by fitting a proportional odds model to examine the maternal risk factors of anaemia. Stratified analysis was done to examine how the relationship differed across maternal educational levels. RESULTS: The findings revealed that maternal disadvantage evident in young motherhood [AOR:1.43, 95%CI:1.16-1.75], no formal education [AOR:1.53, 95%CI:1.25-1.89], unemployment [AOR:1.31, 95%CI:1.15-1.49], poorest household wealth [AOR:1.50, 95%CI:1.17-1.91], and non-access to health insurance [AOR:1.26, 95%CI: 1.03-1.53] were risk factors of anaemia among children in the sample. Sub-group analysis by maternal education showed that the risks were not evident when the mother has secondary or higher education. However, having an unmarried mother was associated with about four-times higher risk of anaemia if the mother is uneducated [AOR:4.04, 95%CI:1.98-8.24] compared with if the mother is currently in union. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study show that a secondary or higher maternal education may help reduce the socio-economic risk factors of anaemia among children under-5 years in Tanzania.