NFHS -5

NFHS -5

Topic: Governance

Context:

NFHS-5 has good news on population growth rates and sex ratios.

Concept:

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.

The key results from the second phase of the latest NFHS (NFHS-5, 2019-21) have been released which comes out as a mixed verdict, containing both cheer and alarm in abundant measure.

Findings of the Survey:

• There are many pluses in the report card of NFHS-5.
• Improvements have been witnessed in several dimensions such as educational attainment, institutional deliveries, vaccinations, infant mortality etc.
• Irrespective of the pace, the progress shall be appreciated especially given the abysmal state of India’s health infrastructure which has been tragically apparent since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
• Decline in TFR, a Major Positive: The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has been falling over time and has now reached (at 2.0) just below the replacement rate of 2.1.
• This is true across all States of India which means that the total population has stabilised.
• Difference in Sex Ratio at Birth and at Adulthood: For the first time in India, between 2019-21, there were 1,020 adult women per 1,000 men.
• However, the data shall not undermine the fact that India still has a sex ratio at birth (SRB) more skewed towards boys than the natural SRB (which is 952 girls per 1000 boys).
• Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra are the major states with low SRB.
• Poor Performance in Dealing with Anaemia: The incidence of anaemia in under-5 children (from 58.6 to 67%), women (53.1 to 57%) and men (22.7 to 25%) has worsened in all States of India (20%-40% incidence is considered moderate).
• Barring Kerala (at 39.4%), all States are in the “severe” category.
• Performance of Malnutrition Indicators: The three indicators of malnutrition, stunting (low height-for-age), wasting (low weight-for-height) and underweight (low weight-for-age), show an overall improvement.
• However, this overall improvement creates an anomaly as in Phase 1 of the NFHS-5, several States revealed a worsening in one or more of these indicators, whereas in Phase 2, none of the States showed a worsening.
• It might be possible that the covid-19 affected the survey in Phase 2, leading to undercounting of incidences.
• Additionally, an increase is witnessed in the proportion of overweight children, women and men which also reflects malnutrition leading to serious health consequences in the form of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
• Non-Inclusion of Micronutrients: In addition to anthropometric measures, lack of adequate nutrition is also measured by micronutrient deficiencies, i.e. lack of vitamins and minerals that are essential for body functions such as producing enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for growth and development.
• The NFHS does not have data on micronutrients.