General Attitudes, Cultural Significance and Health Risks Associated with Body Arts among Ewe Youth in the Volta Region of Ghana
General Attitudes, Cultural Significance and Health Risks Associated with Body Arts among Ewe Youth in the Volta Region of Ghana
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Date
2021
Authors
Agbezuge, Mary Ama
Danso, Daniel Kwabena
Adom, Dickson
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Publisher
Scientific Research Publishing
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to assess the general attitudes, cultural signific ance and health risks associated with body arts on the Ewe youth in the Volta
Region of Ghana. The descriptive research design under the quantitative re search approach was adopted for the study. The population for this study was
made up of 125 Ewe youths in the Volta Region of Ghana who was sampled
using the random sampling method. Researcher-designed questionnaire was
the main data collection tool. The analysis was done quantitatively using de scriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages with the aid of
the SPSS software. The findings revealed that the majority of the respondents
(95%) said that Ewes are concerned about the cultural significance of body
arts as indicators of social status, self-esteem, beauty, ethnic and religious
identity, as well as spiritual and medicinal protection. Regarding the health
risks associated with body arts, it was found that 97% stated that body deco rating can lead to body cancer and allergic reaction, 83% agreed that body
arts can cause pain and excessive bleeding, 95% said body arts can cause
nerve damage, 68% said body arts can cause life-threatening bacterial infec tions and 79% indicated that body arts can lead to blood-borne virus infec tions like Hepatitis B and HIV. The study contends that a greater section of
the Ewe youth has extensive knowledge regarding the cultural significance
and health risks of body arts. However, knowledge on the safer approaches to
body arts must be carried out through well-planned public education pro grams organized by the Ghana Health Service especially among the youth in
Ghana.
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Citation
Agbezuge, M. A., Danso, D. K., & Adom, D. (2022). General Attitudes, Cultural Significance and Health Risks Associated with Body Arts among Ewe Youth in the Volta Region of Ghana.