Trends, Determinants and Health Risks of Adolescent Fatherhood in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study examined the trends, determinantsand health risks of adolescent fatherhood in three selected Africancountries where adolescent-girl pregnancy/motherhood are decriedbut with permissive male sexual latitude.METHODS: Adolescent male data were extracted from the male-recode datasets of Demographic Health Survey (2000-2014) forNigeria, Ethiopia and Zambia. The surveys were grouped into 3-Waves: (2000-2004); (2005-2008) and (2011-2014). The studyemployed descriptive and binary logistics that tested the log-odds ofadolescent fatherhood with respect to selected sexual behaviourindices, and individual and shared demographic variables.RESULTS: The results revealed that the number of lifetime-sexual-partners among the boys is ≥2. The likelihood of adolescentfatherhood is positively associated with increasing age at firstcohabitation and multiple sexual partnerships (≥2) havingOR=1.673 and OR=1.769 in 2005/2008 and 2011/2014 respectively.Adolescents who had attained tertiary education, and engaged inprofessional and skilled jobs were 0.313, 0.213 and 0.403 times(respectively) less likely to have ever-fathered a child. The positiveassociation between rural place of residence and adolescentfatherhood in the past shifted to urban residents in 2011/2014.CONCLUSION: The study concludes that early sexual activitiesand cohabitation are common among male adolescents among thecountries of study. The authors recommend discouragement ofboy-girl cohabitation, increasing access to higher education andjob opportunities in order to stem boy-fatherhood incidence in thestudy locations and, by extension, other countries in sub-SaharanAfrica.