India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined from 2.2 children in 2015-16 to 2 children per woman now while the prevalence of overweight or obesity among men and women, which could be an indicator to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), has increased roughly around three to four percentage points during 2019-21 compared to the levels reported in 2015-16.
These are the data available from the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) released on Thursday.
The TFR is currently below the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 children per woman.
According to the report, the median age at first birth among women aged 25-49 is 21.2 years, and around seven per cent of women aged 15-19 have begun childbearing, which is just a one per cent decline from 2015-16. About one-fourths (23 per cent) of currently married women aged 15-49 want to have another child, the NFHS noted.
The TFR ranges from 1.1 children per woman in Sikkim to 3 children per woman in Bihar. Thirty-one states and union territories, including all the states in the south region, the west region, and the north region have fertility below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, the NFHS showed.
Between 1992-93 and 2019-21, the TFR declined from 3.4 children to 2.0 children. The TFR among women in rural areas has declined from 3.7 children 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. In all NFHS surveys, irrespective of place of residence, the fertility rate peaks at age 20-24, after which it declines steadily.Among the religious groups, the median birth interval is the lowest among Hindus (32.3 months) and the highest among Jains (48.2 months).
The NFHS also indicated that institutional births have increased from 79 per cent to 89 per cent in India. In rural areas, 87 per cent births are being delivered in institutions, while this number is higher for urban areas at 94 percent.
Regarding consumption of alcohol, only one per cent of women in India drink alcohol compared with 22 percent of men, while 39 per cent of men and 4 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 years use some form of tobacco, according to the report.
Among the women who consume alcohol, 17 per cent drink almost every day and 37 per cent about once a week. Among the men who drink alcohol, 15 per cent drink alcohol almost every day, 43 per cent about once a week, and 42 per cent less than once a week, the report said.
The NFHS-5 survey has been conducted in around 6.37 lakh sample households in 707 districts in 28 states and eight Union Territories, covering 7,24,115 women and 1,01,839 men to provide dis-aggregated estimates up to district level.
Among men as well as women, the use of any form of tobacco is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Among men, in urban areas cigarettes are more popular than any other form of tobacco, it said.