Abstract

Background: Youth are the foundation to posterity. If the specific needs of young people are not identified and addressed, the millennium development goals will not be met.
Objective: To study the knowledge, attitude, and practices related to sexual health and contraception among the youth.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Malvani slum area of Mumbai among 540 youth aged between 15 and 24 years. Two-stage systematic random sampling method was used with individual household being the sampling unit. Result: About 68.7% of those who said that they were aware of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) could not specify any particular symptom or disease. Leukorrhea was the most common symptom specified by 27.5% of the participants, and 40.7% of the unmarried participants experienced sexual intercourse. Regular and consistent condom use was found in only 13.4% of the participants who have ever experienced a sexual intercourse. Conclusion: There was an evident gap between knowledge and practices, especially with respect to the safe sexual practices of youths.