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NFHS-5 National Report

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

What is the NFHS-5 Report?

• It comprises detailed information on key domains of population, health and family welfare and associated domains like characteristics of the population; fertility; family planning; infant and child mortality; maternal and child health; nutrition and anaemia; morbidity and healthcare; women’s empowerment etc.
• The scope of NFHS-5 is expanded in respect of the earlier round of the survey (NFHS-4) by adding new dimensions such as:
  • Death registration, pre-school education, expanded domains of child immunization, components of micro-nutrients to children, menstrual hygiene, frequency of alcohol and tobacco use, additional components of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), expanded age range for measuring hypertension and diabetes among all aged 15 years and above.
• Thus, NFHS-5 provides information on important indicators which are helpful in tracking the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
• The national report also provides data by socioeconomic and other background characteristics; useful for policy formulation and effective programme implementation.
• The NFHS-5 National Report lists progress from NFHS-4 (2015-16) to NFHS-5 (2019-21).

Objective

• The main objective of successive rounds of the NFHS has been to provide reliable and comparable data relating to health and family welfare and other emerging areas in India.

What are the Key Highlights of the NFHS-5 National Report?

• Replacement level fertility is the total fertility rate—the average number of children born per woman—at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration.

Highest and Lowest Fertility Rate

• Bihar and Meghalaya have the highest fertility rates in the country, while Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the lowest.

Area wise

• In rural areas, TFR has declined from 3.7 children per woman in 1992-93 to 2.1 children in 2019-21. The corresponding decline among women in urban areas was from 2.7 children in 1992-93 to 1.6 children in 2019-21.

Community Wise

• muslims’ fertility rate has seen the sharpest decline among all religious communities over the past two decades.

Underage Marriages

• National average of underage marriages has come down.
• According to NFHS-5, 23.3% women surveyed got married before attaining the legal age of 18 years, down from 26.8% reported in NFHS-4
• The figure for underage marriage among men is 17.7% (NFHS-5) and 20.3% (NFHS-4).

Highest Surge

• The rate has increased in Punjab, West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura and Assam.
• Tripura has seen the largest jump in marriages for women from 33.1% (NHFS-4) to 40.1%, and from 16.2% to 20.4% among men.

Highest Rate of Underage Marriages

• West Bengal, along with Bihar, remains one of the states with highest rate of underage marriages.

Lowest Rate of Underage Marriages

• J&K, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

Teenage Pregnancies

• Teenage pregnancies are down from 7.9% to 6.8%.Use of Contraceptive Method
• Employment Factor: 66.3% women who are employed use a modern contraceptive method, compared with 53.4% women who are not employed.  Contraceptive use increases in communities and regions that have seen more socioeconomic progress
• Income Factor: The “unmet need for family planning methods” is highest among the lowest wealth quintile (11.4%) and lowest among the highest wealth quintile (8.6%).
• Use of modern contraceptives also increases with income from 50.7% women in the lowest wealth quintile to 58.7% women in the highest quintile.

Domestic Violence Against Women

• Overall: Domestic violence has come down marginally from 31.2% in 2015-16 to 29.3% in 2019-21.

Highest and Lowest (States)

• Domestic violence against women is highest in Karnataka at 48%, followed by Bihar, Telangana, Manipur and Tamil Nadu. Lakshadweep has the least domestic violence at 2.1%.

Institutional Births

• Overall: It increased from 79% to 89% in India.
• Area Wise: In rural areas around 87% births being delivered in institutions and the same is 94% in urban areas.

Immunisation Level

• More than three-fourths (77%) children age 12-23 months were fully immunised, compared with 62% in NFHS-4.

Stunting:

• The level of stunting among children under five years has marginally declined from 38% to 36% in the country since the last four years.
• Stunting is higher among children in rural areas (37%) than urban areas (30%) in 2019-21.

Obesity

• Compared with NFHS-4, the prevalence of overweight or obesity has increased in most States/UTs in NFHS-5.
• At the national level, it increased from 21% to 24% among women and 19% to 23% among men.

SDG Goal

• NFHS-5 shows an overall improvement in Sustainable Development Goals indicators in all States/Union Territories (UTs).
• The extent to which married women usually participate in three household decisions indicates that their participation in decision-making is high.
• Household decisions include health care for herself, making major household purchases, visiting her family or relatives.
• Participation in decision making rises ranging from 80% in Ladakh to 99% in Nagaland and Mizoram.
• Rural (77%) and urban (81%) differences are found to be marginal.
• The prevalence of women having a bank or savings account that they use has increased from 53% to 79% in the last four years.

Global Report on Food Crises 2022

• Recently, an annual report named Global Report on Food Crises 2022 was launched by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC).
• The report is the flagship publication of the GNAFC and is facilitated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

What is Food Security Information Network? 

• FSIN is a global Initiative co-sponsored by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to strengthen food and nutrition security Information systems for producing reliable and accurate data to guide analysis and decision-making.
  

What is GNAFC? 

• It was Founded by the European Union, FAO and WFP in 2016.
• It is an alliance of humanitarian and develop-ment actors working together to prevent, prepare for and respond to food crises and support the Sustainable Development Goal to End Hunger (SDG 2). 

What are the Key Highlights of the Report?

• Some 40 million more people globally experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021 than 2020. Over half a million Ethiopians, southern Madagascar, South Sudanese and Yemenese are suffering from acute food insecurity.
• Over 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021.

Main Drivers for Food Insecurity

• Conflict forced 139 million people in 24 countries / territories into acute food insecurity.  This is an increase from 99 million in 23 countries / territories in 2020.

Weather Extremes

• It forced over 23 million people in eight countries / territories into acute food insecurity, up from 15.7 million in 15 countries / territories in 2020.

Economic Shocks

• Over 30 million people in 21 countries / territories suffered acute food insecurity in 2021 due to economic shocks, down from over 40 million people in 17 countries / territories in 2020.

What are the Suggestions?

• There is a need to have an integrated approach to prevention, anticipation, and better targeting to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth and fragile food systems.

2. Need to Prioritize Smallholder Agriculture

• The report demonstrated the need for a greater prioritization of smallholder agriculture as a frontline humanitarian response, to overcome access constraints and as a solution for reverting negative long-term trends

3. Strengthening a Coordinated Approach

• The need is to strengthen a coordinated approach to ensure that humanitarian, development and peacekeeping activities are delivered in a holistic and coordinated manner.

What is the State of Food Insecurity in India?

• According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, 2021 India, the country with the largest stock of grain in the world; 120 million tonnes (as of 1st July 2021) accounts for a quarter of the world’s food-insecure population.
• Estimates show that, in 2020, over 237 crore people were grappling with food insecurity globally, an increase of about 32 crores from 2019.
• South Asia alone accounts for 36% of global food insecurity.

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