Students’ Perception of Acquisition of Personal Health Skills among Adolescent in Imo State through the School Health Programme

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify students’ perception of acquisition of personal health skills among adolescents in Imo State through the school health programme. Six research questions and five hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive research design was adopted for the study which utilized 360 students in secondary schools in Imo State as the sample frame through multi stage sampling procedure. A questionnaire was the main instrument for the study. The mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA and Duncan Multiple range test were used for data analysis. The result of the study revealed that the students perceived all the health skills as very important; these encompass health practices for body hygiene, clothing and physical exercise (x̄ = 2.50). Gender, educational qualification of parents and person responsible for health care were significant on the acquisition of personal health skills. Family typology and type of single parenthood were not significant on acquisition of skills for personal health. It was recommended that personal health skills should be taught as component of life- long education. Male students should be taught to realize that personal health skills are for optimal health and not for beauty. Parents should be made to realize through the Ministries of Education and Health that their educational qualification and their responsibility in family health care significantly influence the acquisition of personal health skills of adolescents. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n7p153