Empowerment status of school-going adolescents in Anekal Taluk of Bengaluru District

Context: Empowerment is a multidimensional social process that enables vulnerable population to participate in and control the various determinants of health. This study was done to assess the empowerment status and factors associated with it among school-going adolescents in Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Urban District. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. The sample included government school-going adolescents between 14-18 years of age. Study tools used were self-designed expert validated questionnaire on adolescent empowerment. Data were entered on EpiData and analyzed by SPSS version 16.0. Results: Among the 351 study participants, 196 (56%) were females and 188 (58%) were in 10th and 11th standards. In health domain, 186 (53%) of the students were aware about at least two nutritious foods and 317 (90.3%) of the students knew to cook food on their own; 271 (77.2%) of the students knew how to start a bank account and 307 (87.5%) knew what to do in a hospital when they are sick; 328 (93.6%) of students believe that minimum age for marriage for females was between 18-20 years and 329 (93.7%) knew at least one method of family planning; 282 (80.3%) of the students knew at least one vocational skill; 21 (6%) knew about child protection laws and 203 (58%) believe that decisions regarding important life events should be taken by both parents in conjunction with children. Conclusions: Adolescents lacked empowerment in terms of knowledge regarding reproductive health and nutrition. Years of schooling was found to be associated with better empowerment.