J&K’s Health Report Card | 3 out of every 4 women in J&K anemic

Srinagar, Nov 26: The second round of the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 5) has revealed an overall improvement in health and wellbeing of women but a reduction in fertility rate and healthy body-mass index.

From the child sex ratio of 903 as per NFHS 3 carried out in 2005-06, the child sex ratio in J&K has improved to 976.

   

In 2015-16, the figure stood at 923.

There has been a welcome and drastic rise in the sex ratio at birth for children born in the last five years (females per 1000 males) as per this national periodic survey that measures the health indicators and parameters of all states and UTs of India.

There is very little difference in the child sex ratio of rural and urban populations – 978 for the former and 978 for the latter.

However, in terms of the sex ratio of the total population, the figures have dropped from 971 to 948.

The reduction is more pronounced in the urban areas where there are only 944 females per 1000 males.

The government, post the alarming decrease in the child sex ratio in the past decades, had framed the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Determination Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act in 1994.

The total fertility rate, which is a concern in many parts of India, has dropped to a drastic 1.4 percent in J&K.

In other words, a woman in J&K would be able to give birth to less than two children in her years of fertility.

The total fertility rate of J&K has dropped steeply from being 2 in 2015-16.

In general terms, the TFR of less than 2 implies that the population of the area surveyed would decrease.

However, the total population eventually also depends on the death rate, age graphics, and population mobility.

Overall, India’s TFR has decreased from 2.4 to 2.1 in the past five years.

The survey shows an overall improvement in income and maternal health service access. The mothers who had had an antenatal checkup in the first trimester had increased from 76.7 to 86.6 percent in J&K.

The percentage of births in a healthcare setting had increased from 85.5 percent to 92.4 percent.

However, there was a concern about the falling nutritional status, especially the growing anemia among women of all ages.

In the 15-49 year age group, from 48.9 percent being anemic in 2015-16 now 65.9 percent are anemic. In adolescent girls, 15-19 years of age, the proportion has risen from being 50 percent at the time of the last NFHS to 76.2 now.

Anemia is a cause for severe mental and physical conditions and there are programmes in government health service for its correction.

In terms of body-mass index, the percentage of women with abnormally low weight has decreased from being around 12 percent to around 5 percent now.

There is no change in the percentage of obese women though.

However, in men obesity has increased by over 10 points in five years.

The percentage of the overweight population has increased from being 20.5 percent five years ago to 31.6 percent now.

On other indicators of lifestyle disorders such as abnormal blood sugar and blood pressure, there is no baseline data and the survey included these parameters for the first time in this round.

However, the prevalence of hypertension seems to be high in both men and women in J&K.

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