New Delhi: Between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), or the average number of children per woman, fell from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level. According to the national report of the NFHS-5, presented by the Health Ministry, only five states in India are over replacement level of fertility of 2.1 — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) and Manipur (2.17).
The fundamental goal of the NFHS has been to offer trustworthy and comparative data on health and family welfare, as well as other growing areas in India, in succeeding cycles. The NFHS-5 National Report details the transition from NFHS-4 (2015-16) to NFHS-5 (2017-18). (2019-21).
The poll also found that institutional births have climbed from 79 percent to 89 percent in India, with roughly 87 percent of births in rural areas and 94 percent in urban areas being delivered in institutions.
According to the NFHS-5, more than three-quarters of children aged 12-23 months (77 percent) were fully immunised, compared to 62 percent in the NFHS-4. Stunting among children under the age of five has decreased slightly in the country during the last four years, from 38 percent to 36 percent. In 2019-21, stunting is more common among children in rural areas (37%) than in urban areas (30%).
According to data, Muslims’ fertility rate has dropped the most among all religious communities over the last two decades.
The Muslim community’s fertility rate, on the other hand, remains the highest among all religious communities, at 1.94 in NFHS 5, down from 2.1 in 2015-16. In 1992-93, the Hindu group had a fertility rate of 3.3. The Christian community has a fertility rate of 1.88, the Sikh community 1.61, the Jain community 1.6, and the Buddhist and neo-Buddhist group 1.39, which is the lowest rate in the country, according to NFHS 5.
An accelerated decline in Muslims’fertility rate has taken place twice – between 1992-93 and 1998-99 as well as between 2005-6 and 2015-16, when it dropped by 0.8 points.
The proportion of Muslim women who have never attended school has decreased from 32% in NFHS 4 (2015-16) to 21.9 percent in NFHS-5 (2019-21). Hindus, on the other hand, showed a little increase from 31.4 percent in NFHS 4 to 28.5 percent in NFHS 5.
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