Perceived Health Consequences of Unwanted Pregnancy Among Secondary School Students in Owerri-North Lga, Imo State

AbstractThe presentstudy examinedperceived health consequences of unwantedpregnancy among senior secondary school students in Owerri North LGA. To direct the study, the researchers formulated four (4) objectives, four (4) research questions and one (1) hypothesis. Appropriate literature were reviewed and presented under four (4) headings which are conceptual framework, theoretical framework, empirical framework and summary of literature review. The research design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. The population of the study was fourteen thousand, four hundred and ninety six (14,496) students from the fifteen (15) existing secondary schools in Owerri North LGA. The sample size of 320 secondary school students in Owerri North LGA was randomly selected using two staged sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was the researchers' developed valid and reliable structured questionnaire. Data collected were presented into contingency tables and analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages as well as inferential statistics of Chi-square (X2) at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that more than half of the secondary school students perceived that physical health consequences (61.3) and social health consequences (66.7%) of unwanted pregnancy while less than half perceived psychological health consequences (44.0%) of unwanted pregnancy.Based on the findings, the researcher recommended among others that schools should use their moral instruction periods to educate both male and female students on unwanted pregnancy and its related dangers. School education remains the best channel for equipping youths with appropriate information to make appropriate choices about delaying the initiation of sex and protecting themselves and their partners when they choose to have sex. The educational implications of findings, suggestions for further studies and limitations of study were raised.