Science Journal of Public Health

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Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District

Received: Jan. 25, 2018    Accepted: Feb. 16, 2018    Published: Mar. 15, 2018
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Abstract

Background: Teenage marriage eventually lead to teenage pregnancy with all it associated adverse consequences. Moreover, teenagers are less likely to utilize antenatal care and as well exhibit sub-optimal neonatal care compared to adult women. Thus, the need to report on teenage marriage in order to inform policy makers to provide necessary teenage sexual reproductive health services with relevant policies especially in post-conflict settings like Northern Uganda. Objectives: To describe prevalence and determinants of teenage marriage in post-conflict Northern Uganda. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data was collected from 424 females of reproductive age using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Univariate and bivariate analyses were carried out using SPSS 16.0. Results: Mean age of study participants was 27 years. Majority of participants (79.0%) and their husbands (67.2%) were peasant farmers. Majority of participants were married (85.8%) with about one-fifth (18.1%) of the participants pregnant at the time of interview. Among the married participants, majority of the participants (65.1%) and their husbands (64.2%) had only primary education. Majority (86.3%) of the married women first got married as teenagers. Mean age at first marriage was 17 years. Women in this population generally got married at early ages. Women who got married at younger ages were lowly educated and generally never had formal paid employments. Likewise, women who got married at younger ages were generally married to lowly educated men with no formal employments. In contrast, women who married later in life had better education and married men with better education level and above all such couples tend to engage in formal paid employments. In addition, women who got married at older ages had less number of live births and desired to give birth to less children than women who got married at younger ages. Conclusions: Women in post-conflict Northern Uganda are experiencing high level of teenage marriage. This put them at risk of not attaining necessary education and employable skills hence poverty. This calls for targeted interventions from both government and development partners in order to reverse the current trend in teenage marriage due to inequality in formal education and other social amenities and thus save the girl child from poverty.

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15
Published in Science Journal of Public Health ( Volume 6, Issue 2, March 2018 )
Page(s) 61-65
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Teenage Marriage, Age at First Marriage, Rural Women, Post Conflict Settings

References
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  • APA Style

    Simple Ouma, Kenneth Odong Obita, Turyasima Mananura, Acca Harriet Omara, Florence Nabbale, et al. (2018). Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District. Science Journal of Public Health, 6(2), 61-65. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15

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    ACS Style

    Simple Ouma; Kenneth Odong Obita; Turyasima Mananura; Acca Harriet Omara; Florence Nabbale, et al. Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District. Sci. J. Public Health 2018, 6(2), 61-65. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15

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    AMA Style

    Simple Ouma, Kenneth Odong Obita, Turyasima Mananura, Acca Harriet Omara, Florence Nabbale, et al. Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District. Sci J Public Health. 2018;6(2):61-65. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15,
      author = {Simple Ouma and Kenneth Odong Obita and Turyasima Mananura and Acca Harriet Omara and Florence Nabbale and Moses Toe Rama and Caroline Cephas Adong and Mpora Beatrice Odongkara and Emmanuel Igwaro Odongo-Aginya and Silvia Awor},
      title = {Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {61-65},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20180602.15},
      abstract = {Background: Teenage marriage eventually lead to teenage pregnancy with all it associated adverse consequences. Moreover, teenagers are less likely to utilize antenatal care and as well exhibit sub-optimal neonatal care compared to adult women. Thus, the need to report on teenage marriage in order to inform policy makers to provide necessary teenage sexual reproductive health services with relevant policies especially in post-conflict settings like Northern Uganda. Objectives: To describe prevalence and determinants of teenage marriage in post-conflict Northern Uganda. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data was collected from 424 females of reproductive age using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Univariate and bivariate analyses were carried out using SPSS 16.0. Results: Mean age of study participants was 27 years. Majority of participants (79.0%) and their husbands (67.2%) were peasant farmers. Majority of participants were married (85.8%) with about one-fifth (18.1%) of the participants pregnant at the time of interview. Among the married participants, majority of the participants (65.1%) and their husbands (64.2%) had only primary education. Majority (86.3%) of the married women first got married as teenagers. Mean age at first marriage was 17 years. Women in this population generally got married at early ages. Women who got married at younger ages were lowly educated and generally never had formal paid employments. Likewise, women who got married at younger ages were generally married to lowly educated men with no formal employments. In contrast, women who married later in life had better education and married men with better education level and above all such couples tend to engage in formal paid employments. In addition, women who got married at older ages had less number of live births and desired to give birth to less children than women who got married at younger ages. Conclusions: Women in post-conflict Northern Uganda are experiencing high level of teenage marriage. This put them at risk of not attaining necessary education and employable skills hence poverty. This calls for targeted interventions from both government and development partners in order to reverse the current trend in teenage marriage due to inequality in formal education and other social amenities and thus save the girl child from poverty.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District
    AU  - Simple Ouma
    AU  - Kenneth Odong Obita
    AU  - Turyasima Mananura
    AU  - Acca Harriet Omara
    AU  - Florence Nabbale
    AU  - Moses Toe Rama
    AU  - Caroline Cephas Adong
    AU  - Mpora Beatrice Odongkara
    AU  - Emmanuel Igwaro Odongo-Aginya
    AU  - Silvia Awor
    Y1  - 2018/03/15
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 61
    EP  - 65
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15
    AB  - Background: Teenage marriage eventually lead to teenage pregnancy with all it associated adverse consequences. Moreover, teenagers are less likely to utilize antenatal care and as well exhibit sub-optimal neonatal care compared to adult women. Thus, the need to report on teenage marriage in order to inform policy makers to provide necessary teenage sexual reproductive health services with relevant policies especially in post-conflict settings like Northern Uganda. Objectives: To describe prevalence and determinants of teenage marriage in post-conflict Northern Uganda. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data was collected from 424 females of reproductive age using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Univariate and bivariate analyses were carried out using SPSS 16.0. Results: Mean age of study participants was 27 years. Majority of participants (79.0%) and their husbands (67.2%) were peasant farmers. Majority of participants were married (85.8%) with about one-fifth (18.1%) of the participants pregnant at the time of interview. Among the married participants, majority of the participants (65.1%) and their husbands (64.2%) had only primary education. Majority (86.3%) of the married women first got married as teenagers. Mean age at first marriage was 17 years. Women in this population generally got married at early ages. Women who got married at younger ages were lowly educated and generally never had formal paid employments. Likewise, women who got married at younger ages were generally married to lowly educated men with no formal employments. In contrast, women who married later in life had better education and married men with better education level and above all such couples tend to engage in formal paid employments. In addition, women who got married at older ages had less number of live births and desired to give birth to less children than women who got married at younger ages. Conclusions: Women in post-conflict Northern Uganda are experiencing high level of teenage marriage. This put them at risk of not attaining necessary education and employable skills hence poverty. This calls for targeted interventions from both government and development partners in order to reverse the current trend in teenage marriage due to inequality in formal education and other social amenities and thus save the girl child from poverty.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

  • Section