The purpose of this experiment was to study the self-selected dietary intakes and some of the food practices of twenty-six preadolescent girls as determined from two-week dietary records and to compare the calculated self-selected intakes with Recommended Dietary Allowances of the National Research Council. Subjects between the ages of seven and nine years and in the height-weight range considered normal for this sex-age group were chosen. After different methods of dietary survey were considered the two-week record of food intake was used. Forms and instructions for recording data were given to the mothers and they recorded foods consumed by the subjects in household measurements. Nutrient intakes for each subject were calculated using United States Department of Agriculture Handbook Number 8. The mean dietary intakes for all subjects were equal to or above allowances of the National Research Council. The seven year old group had higher nutrient intakes than the eight or nine year old groups. Food habits were studied. The consumption of about a quart of milk per day per subject and the practice of eating substantial breakfasts were practices to which credit was due for above average rating in nutrient intake. Since girls in this study were to be subjects in a metabolism balance study to follow, it was imperative that their typical food intakes be at least equal to and compare favorably with the average for this age group. Their dietary histories and their physical examinations proved them to be entirely acceptable. / Master of Science

Despite the benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among adolescent mothers continue to fall short of the national recommended Healthy People 2010 goals. An interdisciplinary review of the literature was performed using CINAHL, MED LINE, and Academic Search Premier. The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the findings of an integrated literature review to describe how support and educational interventions implemented by nurses during the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal period may increase the incidence of breastfeeding among this vulnerable population. There is a dearth of research related to adolescent breastfeeding. The most common design was noted to be descriptive (N=9) with qualitative and some quantitative components. Studies evaluated several variables: attitudes of infant feeding practices among adolescent mothers; the various health benefits of breastfeeding; breastfeeding statistics; and the impact that professional support, interventions, and education had on an adolescent's perception of breastfeeding. Findings from the review suggested that • breastfeeding support and education are essential in promoting, encouraging, and targeting teenage childbearing women. Early identification of barriers to breastfeeding and cost-effective strategies to promote breastfeeding among adolescent women may even decrease common breastfeeding problems that lead to early weaning among this population. Until the American culture fully embraces the value of breastfeeding, its value will be diminished with no improvement in media representation and workplace support.

Pregnancy in unmarried teenaged girls in America today is a growing concern to health care workers, educators, government officials and parents. Pregnancy during adolescence is not an issue because births to teenagers are increasing but because teenage pregnancy is no longer a societal option. This paper describes adolescent pregnancy from within the context of the subculture of adolescence and from the perspective of 16 pregnant, teenaged girls. The findings revealed a description of the life experiences of pregnant teenagers and introduced health-care issues that were not previously disclosed in other research studies of pregnant teens. The anthropological concepts of liminality, the double-bind, social labeling, and schizmogenesis served to guide the research. The concepts also helped to explain many behaviors and observations that were made of the informants throughout the research. An ethnographic approach using participant observation and ethnographic interviews was used to collect data from 16 pregnant, unmarried, teenaged girls in a large Southwestern, urban area. The informants ranged in age from 14 through 19 years and represented various backgrounds. Nine informants resided in a home for unwed, pregnant teenagers with the remainder residing in diverse locations. Data analyses occurred concurrently with data collection as part of an ongoing process. Data were ordered and transcribed within a framework designed to enhance thematic analysis. Transcribed interview and observational data were transferred onto the Ethnograph, a data-management software program. Data were coded using substantive and conceptual codes. Codes were linked according to patterns of association and frequency of occurrence which in turn led to the revealing of recurrent thematic patterns. In all, eight themes were revealed: (1) pregnancy is bad; (2) loneliness; (3) waiting it out; (4) dependency; (5) looking bad; (6) giving up baby; (7) losing what was; and (8) losing control. Thematic content also disclosed many inconsistencies and double-binds between the larger Western macroculture and adolescent subculture. Ethnographic themes and expressions of these themes provided new information for constructing health-related interventions with pregnant teens.

No description available.

The problem of this study was to isolate some of the characteristics of tenth-grade girls which may lead to early marriage. The characteristics studied were: sibling rank, influence of a broken home, parents* education and occupations, mental ability, aptitude, scholastic achievement, study habits and attitudes, and personal problems identified by the subjects. A further problem of the study was the effectiveness of each of the characteristics in predicting the marriage of high school girls.

This study evaluated the effects of Project PACE, a program designed to increase physical activity, on the physical activity level and selected psychosocial variables of sedentary adolescent females ages 12 to 18. Psychosocial variables included self efficacy, attitude, perception of barriers, perceived social support, and knowledge. Of the 69 participants, 40 were enrolled in the treatment group and 29 were enrolled in the control group at the start of the study. The only significant differences were found for attitudes towards physical activity at base line. Findings from this study suggest that implementation of Project PACE protocol in school settings may produce some positive effects, but no significant findings were detected.

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg, 2016. / As a fulfillment to the Constitutional obligation which is to offer education as human right to everyone, Lesotho has introduced free primary education in schools. This is also a commitment to the Education For All movement. Despite the initiative the country has taken, there are some vulnerable groups of children who are deprived of their right to education. These include girls who fall pregnant while still pursuing their studies. These girls are faced with challenges which include being expelled from school when they fall pregnant. Those who are allowed to continue their studies, they experience marginalisation that may result into exclusion from school. This qualitative study has therefore investigated marginalisation that is experienced by the girls who fall pregnant while still at high school in the Maseru district of Lesotho. The study was conducted through interviews with teachers, pregnant girls, and girls who have babies and still in school, and girls who should be in school, but have been asked to leave school. The findings revealed that girls in schools and out of school are marginalised for similar and different reasons by their teachers, parents and peers. Teachers use language and labeling which humiliate these girls while parents neglect their daughters when they fall pregnant. Rejection by peers has also been revealed in this study. All these marginalisation experiences could be attributed to the silence of the Lesotho Educational Act about teenage pregnancy. Schools in the sample have different policies with regard to teenage pregnancy. As a result some schools exclude teenage mothers from education. / MT2017

A dissertation submitted to the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Demography and Population Studies, October 2017 / Teenage pregnancy is noted as one of the key development challenges in sub-Saharan Africa and globally due to its adverse social, health and demographic consequences. An avalanche of studies has emerged to identify the predictors of teenage pregnancy in South Africa which indicate a persistently high prevalence of teenage pregnancy. This study intends to examine how social disorganisation contributes to the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in South Africa. Social disorganisation is defined here as family disruption, service delivery inaccessibility, community unemployment and residential mobility. The theoretical basis of the study is the social disorganisation theory propounded by Shaw and McKay (1942). The theory was deemed appropriate due to its ability to investigate unfavourable factors beyond the individual-level occurring within society. This theory has not been applied to any teenage pregnancy study in South Africa. The data source for the study is South Africa’s 2011 census. The target population includes females aged 12 to 19. The study uses multilevel logistic regression modelling allowing heterogeneity at the individual and community levels to test the applicability of the theory in explaining teenage pregnancy. Results indicate that teenage pregnancy remains at critical levels with 3.97% of teenage females having given birth in the preceding year yet incidence among 15-19 year olds is 15 times higher than that of 12-14 year olds. Family forms other than two-parented marriages and communities with high levels of family disruption increase the likelihood of teenage pregnancy. Similarly, increasing household service delivery inaccessibility predisposes teenage females to higher odds of pregnancy, as expected. However, higher community unemployment was negatively associated with teenage pregnancy as were higher levels of residential mobility, which is contrary to previous international research findings. To this end, the study provides empirical evidence of the social disorganisation determinants of teenage pregnancy in South Africa. Additionally, the study shows the contribution of certain household and community factors in pregnancy likelihood among young women locally. In light of these findings it becomes necessary for practitioners to create intervention strategies that target these factors to curb the levels and chances of teenage pregnancy nationally. Furthermore, it is vital that government and other stakeholders financially support investigation and prevention campaigns that intentionally address contextual factors to increase adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Consequently, this study contributes to the investigation of structural derivatives to determine pertinent factors in the quest to decrease teenage pregnancy in South Africa. / XL2018

This research project looks at the experiences of a group of pregnant teenagers in a low socio-economic area. Teenage sexuality and pregnancy has been the subject of substantial research in South Africa and the rest of the world as it is a global issue. The challenge that pregnant teenagers face are to manage schooling, pregnancy and mothering rather than dropping out of school. This study was conducted using a qualitative research method through semi-structured interviews. The participants consisted of fourteen teenagers ranging from fifteen to eighteen years of age. The teenagers were either pregnant or had delivered their babies. They attended the local high school with the exception of one participant who had dropped out of school. I interviewed one Life Orientation educator from the local high school and one ante natal nursing sister from the local municipal clinic. Teenage pregnancy produced gender inequalities as the female adolescent is unable to attend school whilst recuperating from the birth of the child; the male continues attending school regardless of fathering the child. Culturally it was inappropriate to receive sex education at home so information was gained within the formal setting of Life Orientation classes, peers or social media. Due to varying degrees of familial support, the teenagers were able to return to school after the birth of their babies. The level of family support ranged from taking over full responsibility of the child so the adolescent continued with her former life to the teenager having to care for the child when returning from school and only being able to complete homework tasks once the baby was asleep. Agency was most apparent in the decision of abortion. The teenagers would not be forced into the procedure if it was not the option of their choice despite pressure from boyfriends and family. Teenagers also showed agency in ending relationships with their partners if the partner was dating other girls concurrently. However, they did not use agency in the negotiation of condom use despite stating that they were in equal relationships with their boyfriends. This indicates how structures may constrain agency, specifically structures that are located in gendered inequalities. The teenagers were knowledgeable about the facts of condom use as protection against pregnancy and disease but these facts were not put into practice. Discourses suggest female teenagers’ fear of being rejected by their partner through the insistence of condom use and male domination over the female.

This study discusses how adolescent Black and Latina girls read the femininities made available in pop culture texts and how they take up those femininities when they narrate personal experiences. The purpose of the study is to explore how girls engage in pop culture on an ongoing basis, how these everyday engagements shape their understandings of themselves as girls, and how these engagements are themselves performances that both maintain and threaten the boundaries between boy and girl. In addition, this study witnesses the deconstruction of those meanings (Derrida, 1967/1997), exploring how attempts to make femininity mean something ultimately undermines itself. As pop culture has come to saturate everyday life, American schools, following the Common Core State Standards’ (NGA, 2010) mandate for curriculum driven by “sufficiently complex,” canonical texts, have narrowed the scope and purposes of literacy instruction in schools. This research serves as a starting point for curricula that support young people in making sense of pop culture and their relationship to it. Situated within a poststructural feminist theoretical framework, this study uses qualitative methods to make the literacy processes through which girls make sense of pop culture texts visible and to elicit narrations of the personal experiences in which girls take up the femininities made available pop culture texts. The findings suggested that girls make sense of these femininities by reading both in-narrative and out-of-narrative—standing back from the text and treating it as a text. In their readings and discussions of pop culture texts, the girls cited and inscribed discourses of femininity, constituting themselves as respectable girls by deliberately making judgments about women’s physical appearance on screen. Specifically, they acted to draw a line between what they saw as appropriate and what they saw as inappropriate. This repetitive act was one way they performed respectable femininity, stabilizing discursive meanings of gender and also holding open the possibility of the line being placed differently. The findings also suggested that storytelling as a site of discursive agency as the distance between the moment of experience and the moment of narration held open the possibility of reformulation and renegotiation of meanings.