Awareness of pubertal body changes among primary school children aged 10-14 years in Eastern Uganda; challenges and opportunities.

Alike, every child is entitled to pubertal-related information irrespective of being-in-school or out-of-school. Children's understanding of their pubertal body changes is vital in as far as "positive" sexual health is concerned in their adulthood. In this study, we aimed at determining awareness of pubertal body changes, pubertal-related challenges faced by primary school children and opportunities for them to navigate through challenges during puberty. Data was collected from 19 FGDs conducted among boys and girls aged between 10 and 14 years from urban and rural schools in Jinja, Uganda. Our study found that girls in rural schools were aware of their body changes than those from urban schools probably due to the fact that girls in rural schools interact with many close relatives compared to those from urban schools. Pubertal-related challenges experienced by both girls and boys included lack of shavers, pain while shaving, rape, "bad" boy­girl relationships, unwanted early pregnancies, limited financial support, menstrual pain, peer pressure, sexually transmitted diseases, changes in voices, bad body odour etc. Unlike in girls, we found that boys in urban schools were knowledgeable of pubertal body changes than those from rural schools. Over all, our participants navigated through pubertal-related challenges by utilising advise from mainly their teachers, parents and friends. However, boys and girls who were aware of puberty body changes easily navigated through pubertal-related challenges. This therefore means that efforts to create awareness of pubertal-related challenges among young people especially those aged 10­14 years may yield positive results in one's sexual health during adulthood.