THE PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS O F TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN UWHERU KINGDOM, UGHELLI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, DELTA STATE

ABSTRACTS A total of One Hundred and Fifty Teenage girls from Ughelli North Local Government Area were studied to determine their knowledge, attitudes and exposure to the prevalence and determinants of teenage pregnancy. The studv which was performed in Ughelli North Local Government Area involving girls from both in and out Qfschools showed a high level offormal education (86%) to no formal education (14%) with an age distribution between ten (10) and nineteen (19) years. Educational status of the teenage girls revealed that a higher proportion of the peopleare insecondaryschooleducation level(74 0%) while (76%) wereinprimary school and had no formal education. A higher population of the respondents in this study claimed they are not exposed to quality knowledge on teenage pregnancy and have not been exposed to sexual intercourse before. Some reasons being the topic is quite neglected both in school and at home. One hundred and forty-two percent (142%) responded no to using contraceptive during sex while eight (5.33%) agreed to it. One hundred and forty-four (96.7%) respondents claimed to no have engagedin sex while none of the participant agreed that Peer pressure, Just for pleasure, Indication for maturity, or early marriage were reasons for engaging in sexual activity with the opposite sex. Exposure of teenage girls to the sex education is paramount and highly advised. Necessary authorities should take up responsibility ofproviding means to tackle the prevalence of teenage pregnancy.