NFHS 4: Sex Ratio down, Knowledge Rate up in Women

As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4- first phase which is released recently the sex ratio in many states in India has significantly decreased and knowledge rate has increased in women՚s. Mumbai based International Institute has started the conducted this first phase of survey for Population Sciences under the guidance of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

  • In the NFHS series NFHS-4 is the first survey which has collected data from all 29 States and all 7 Union Territories and also has also estimated at the district level for all 640 districts in the country.
  • The NFHS-4 is the fourth in a series of national surveys after 2005 - 06 (NFHS-3) , 1998 - 99 (NFHS-2) and 1992 - 93 (NFHS-1) .

Highlights of the report:

In the first phase 11 states and 2 UT՚s are surveyed and they are:

  • Goa
  • Uttarakhand
  • Meghalaya
  • Tamil Nadu
  • Tripura
  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Sikkim
  • Haryana
  • Karnataka
  • Bihar
  • West Bengal
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands (UT)
  • Puducherry (UT)

Female knowledge ratio has increased and reached at 12.15% in these 11 states.

Sex ratio has significantly decreased in 9 out of 11 surveyed states of India and reach at 985 females per 1,000 males in 2015 - 16.

Uttarakhand has 1,015 females per 1,000 males and Meghalaya has 1,005 females per 1,000 males.

Institutional distributions in children have delivered in a medical institution under medical supervision which is increased by 32.8% , the states with maximum deliveries in institutional are:

  • Madhya Pradesh has 54.6%
  • Karnataka has 44.8%
  • Bihar has 43.9%

Child marriages ratio in this 11 survey states are:

  • For females: 13.17%
  • For male: 6.7%

Health concern and Nutrition ratio has improved and poor nutrition are less as common compared to previous survey. Anaemia cases also have decayed.

Improved drinking water and sanitation facilities use ratio is increased in India and more than 50% of households have improved sanitation facilities apart from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Examrace Team at Aug 20, 2021