PRACTICE AND CONTENT OF SEX EDUCATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN A FAMILY SETTING IN RURAL SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

A descriptive cross-sectional study to assess adolescents' view of the practice and content of sex education within the family setting in a rural Nigerian community and explore whether there is any association between parental communication on sex and adolescents' sexual debut and habits. Simple random sampling was utilized, while a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 350 respondents. Data analysis was by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 11). Majority of the respondents (48.8%) were late adolescents, 291 (85.1%) had had sex education, most (45.7%) of whom were exposed between ages 10 and 14 years. The main content of parental sex education was HIV/AIDS prevention (51.9%), avoidance of pregnancy (40.9%), abstinence (38.1%), and basic information about reproduction and biology (35.4%). Poor attitude to parental communication on sex was associated with a higher likelihood of pre-marital sex (p = 0.001). Curiosity was the most common major reason for sexual debut. This emphasizes the importance of early sex education within the family setting and its possible impact in delaying sexual initiation. Promotion of parent-child communication about sexual issues is vital in order to improve the reproductive health of the adolescents in this environment. Community-based health education intervention programs for parents are recommended.