Peer-reviewed article
Effects of Early Marriage on the Health of Female Adolescents
Ram Prasad Adhikari, Bhashkar Chandra Adhikari, Menuka Oli, Junu Rai, Aarati Kumari et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined early marriage and its health effects on adolescent mothers in rural Nepal. Researchers found that low educational attainment and socio-cultural practices were strongly associated with early marriage prevalence. Early marriage age was significantly linked to health problems during childbearing in adolescence. The study calls for government policies and awareness programs to address reproductive health problems and protect the rights of adolescent mothers.
Key points
- Educational attainment was significantly associated with early marriage practices (p=0.01)
- Significant association found between age of marriage and health effects during childbearing (χ2=12.908, p<0.001)
- Low education and socio-cultural practices identified as main factors driving early marriage
- Study conducted in Makawanpur district with 97 respondents from 235 households
- Need for policies and awareness programs on reproductive health rights for adolescent mothers
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study in a single rural location, so findings may not generalise to other regions of Nepal or different contexts. The study does not establish causality or measure specific health outcomes in detail.
Abstract
The main aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of early marriage and examine its effects on the health of adolescent mothers. The research was conducted at BanakariyaTol of Manahari rural municipality, Makawanpurin the year of 2023. Simple random sampling technique (lottery method) was applied to select 97 respondents out of 235 households. Chi-square and Fisher's Exact Test was used to analyse the data. It is found that educational attainment among locale was significantly associated (p-value=0.01) with early marriage practices. Apart from educational attainment, other variables are unassociated. Significant association was found between age of marriage and effects on health while bearing child in early ages χ2 (2, N = 97) = 12.908, p < .001.Low level of education as well as the socio-cultural practices of the people were the main factors for high preference and prevalence of early marriage among female adolescents. The concern people, government and other agencies should formulate the suitable plan and policies to create awareness towards the reproductive health problems of adolescent mothers as well as to protect their reproductive health rights and uplift them for proper decision-making capacity and self-dependency.