Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge Regarding Early Puberty among Girls

Introduction: While The Onset Of Puberty Is A Natural Process, It Indeed Is A Very Unsettling Phase In A Girl’s Life. Sadly, This Is An Alarming Trend In Urban Areas – Some Girls From Rural Areas Are Still Getting Their Periods At 15-16 Years But Girls From Urban Areas Are Getting Their Periods Earlier Than 8! Early Puberty (Also Known As Precocious Puberty) Means Having Signs Of Puberty Such As Development Of Breasts, Pubic And Underarm Hair And Menstrual Bleeding Early Than Usual. Girls Who Begin Their Puberty Early Before Their Peers Are Usually Quite Alarmed. This Puts Them At Risk Of Depression. Parents Have Got A Very Vital Role To Play. If Necessary, Psychological Counselling May Be Sought For The Girl As Well As The Parents. As Parents, It’s Important To Make Sure That The Child Maintains A Healthy Weight Is Another Way To Avert Early Puberty.” In That Results Showed That Majority Of Pre-Adolescent Girls And Boys (75%), (74%) Had Below Average Knowledge Regarding Pubertal Changes Followed By 25 % Girls And 24%Boys Had Average Level Of Knowledge And In Levels Of Attitude, Majority Of PreAdolescent Girls And Boys (95.19%), (90%) Had Moderately Favourable Attitude Regarding Pubertal Changes Followed By 3.84% Girls And 10%Boys Had Unfavourable Level Of Attitude. Design: Experimental One Group Pre-Test, Post-Test Research Design Was Used To Conduct The Study At Visnagar City. Sample Size: The Sample Size Was 60. Technique: In This Study Using The Purposive Sampling Technique. The Data Collection Was Done With Prior Permission From Authorities The Principal, D.D Kanya Vidhyalay Visnagar. Tool: The Purpose Of The Study Was Explained To The Students And Written 20 Questions Informed Consent Was Obtained The Demographic Data Was Collected By Using Questionnaire. After The Pre-Test, The Investigator Use Flash Card & Seminar To The Students. On The 7 Day The Post-Test Level Of Knowledge On Early Puberty Was Assessed By Using Structured Knowledge Questionnaire. The Data Was Analysed Using Descriptive And Inferential Statistics. Chi-Square Was Used To Associate The PreTest And Post-Test Level Of Knowledge Regarding Early Puberty With The Selected Demographic Variables. Results: The Mean Pre-Test Observation Score Was 11.5% And The Mean Post Test Score Was The 44.38%, And The Standard Deviation Was 2.50% In Pre-Test And 26.42% In Post Test Score, Also The Calculated “T” Value Was 11.38%. KEY WORD: Effectiveness, Early Puberty, Knowledge, Structured Teaching Programme. BACKGROUND OF STUDY Puberty is the phase of life during which secondary sexual characteristics develop, menstruation begins and capability of sexual reproduction is attained. A study published by Donhey regarding puberty revealed that the age of puberty is declining for girls with more girls developing breast by age 7 than in years past. This undoubtedly a reflection of improved nutritional status and healthier living condition7 . 10 The journey from childhood to adolescence is very challenging. between the ages of 8-10 year, there are major change in physical , cognitive , social , and moral development Preadolescence is the period of human development just proceeding adolescence .specifically the period of between the approximate ages of 9 and 12 , girls begin their preadolescent growth spurt at about 10 year of age and boys at about 12 year. During pre-adolescent period dramatic changes. Take place in girls like growth spurts. Reproductive system development. And appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. It is also a time of mental and psychological adjustment. Parents are in an excellent International Journal of Current Science Research and Review

position to observe each and every change in their children. So educating parents especially mothers about pubertal changes amongst pre adolescents is an important aspect. Anusha M, Radhika M and Indira conducted a study on effect of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding pubertal changes in pre-adolescent girls in Nellore showed that 71.6% had inadequate knowledge and 28.4% had moderately adequate knowledge. There is a significant increase in knowledge after teaching programme. Neelam M (2018) conducted a study on effectiveness of a structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding puberty among preadolescent girls in Karnataka showed that knowledge score during pretest was poor (33.52%) and increased to 80.71% after planned teaching programme. Puberty primarily refers to the maturational and hormonal and growth process the occursurs when the reproductive organs begin to function. 11 And the secondary sexual characteristics develop . puberty is a time during which the Adolescence is a transition for girls is a period of physical and psychological preparation for safe motherhood.

RESULT
The result have been organized and presented in following headings:  Table 1 shows that in age most of the early pubertal girls 23(38.33%) belonged to the age group of 11 years, 37(61.60%) of the early pubertal girls were from the age group of 12 years.in education 47(78.33%)of early pubertal girls have continued 7 th years class education while 13(61.60%) of girls continued 6 th years class education.in religion the highest score 51(85%) is Hindu and lowest 0(0%) score is in Christian.in type of family highest 30(50%) score in nuclear family and lowest 5(8.33%) score in extended family.in dietary pattern the mostly girls are belongs to vegetarian class group and its score is 47(78.35%). Figure 1:-Distribution of overall pre-test knowledge score before giving information in frequency and percentage obtained by the study group.
In figure 1 the graph shows on x-axis the pre-test knowledge score category and y -axis shows the percentage distribution of the sample population. Out of 60 samples 71.66% of the sample had good knowledge, 25% had average knowledge 1.67% both of them had very good and poor knowledge. Table 3:-Distribution of overall post-test knowledge score after giving information in frequency and percentage obtained by the study group.   Table 3:-Distribution of overall post-test knowledge score after giving information in frequency and percentage obtained by the study group. According to figure 1 and figure 2 : Revels that in pre-test (1.67%) of sample had a poor knowledge (0-5) regarding early puberty among girls in the selected school age girls of Visnagar .while average knowledge (6-10) was observed in (25%) of sample , (71.66%) of sample having good (11-15) knowledge score. And (1,67%) Table 2 shows that The comparison between pre-test and post-test observation score knowledge regarding early puberty among girls in the selected school age girls of Visanagar. The mean pre-test observation score was 11.5% and the mean post test score was the 44.38%, and the Standard Deviation was 2.50% in pre-test and 26.42% in post test score, also the calculated "t"value was 11.38%..Thus, table revealed that mean post-test knowledge score was higher than the mean pre-test knowledge score. And the calculated "t" value (11.38) is greater than the table value so the hypothesis was accepted. Association Of Post Test Knowledge Score With Socio-Demographic Variables Demographic Variables:

DISCUSSION
The following interpretation can be done from the finding of the study. The analysis of the data reveals that the effect of information knowledge regarding early puberty among girls in the selected school age girls at Visnagar. There are other studies conducted to assess the structure teaching program. One of the examples is as follows.
Chi-square test used to assess the association between the pre-test knowledge score with socio demographic variable and the value shows that there is significant association between the demographic data and pre-test knowledge score. The calculated chi-square values were less than the table value at the 0.05 level of Significance so, the H2 was accepted.

CONCLUSION
The findings of the study were need of early puberty to conduct training programme regarding early puberty in selected school age girls at visnagar r city.. The study reveals that the level of knowledge regarding early Puberty. They concluded that need for providing knowledge on early puberty is an important strategy utilize early puberty as effective contribution toward health.