Bhopal: ‘Growing up becomes fun if physical changes are properly understood’

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): In a program organised on the topic ‘Growing up is fun’,  Dr Jagmeet Chawla, a well-known developmental pediatrician and counselor, held conversations with adolescent girls to make them understand the mental and physical changes of their bodies.

Addressing the young girls at Kamala Nehru Girls Higher Secondary School, Chawla said, “Adolescence is the age of all kinds of curiosity and exploration. At this age, there are many questions about your changing body and feelings, attraction to the opposite sex, curiosity about sex and reproduction and there is a great need for correct answers to such questions. Growing up becomes really fun if the physical changes and emotions that take place at this age are properly understood.”

Talking about menstruation she said, “ Menstruation is a significant change but it is quite normal.  It prepares you to become a mother in the future. There is nothing ‘dirty’ in periods that happen every month, it happens to all girls. During menstruation, if cleanliness and food habits are taken care of, then there will be no problem.”

After the program, principal of the school, Sangeeta Saxena took feedback from the students to know about the changes the conversation brought about in their thinking. She also presented Smt. Sudharani Shukla Memorial Excellence Awards to six students.

About 350 girls participated in this program under 'Suljhan- A dialogue with young girls' organised on the death anniversary of the founder principal of the school, Sudharani Shukla.