Fertility falls, obesity goes up in India , says National Family Health Survey

What is the News?

The National Family Health Survey(NFHS-5) Report has highlighted the recent trends in Fertility and Obesity.

What is the National Family Health Survey(NFHS)?

Read here: National Family Health Survey (NFHS)?
What are the key findings of NFHS-5?
TFR
The Hindu

Total Fertility Rate(TFR): The Total Fertility Rate(TFR), the average number of children per woman, has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between NFHS 4 and 5. 

– There are only five states in India which are above the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) and Manipur (2.17).

Median Age at First Birth: There is a 1% decline in women aged 15-19 who have begun childbearing from the previous NFHS. Now the median age at first birth among women is 25-49 years.

Obesity: India is rapidly becoming the land of the obese. 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. Further, one in every four Indians is now obese.

Obesity
Source: Business Standard

The percentage of obese population is more in urban (33%) than in rural areas (20%).

There is also a steady increase in the proportion of overweight or obese men and women as household wealth increases.

Puducherry (46%), Chandigarh (44%), Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab (41% each) have the highest proportion of obese women. In comparison, Jharkhand and Bihar followed by Gujarat have the highest proportion of thin women.

On the other hand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the highest proportion of overweight men (45%), followed by Puducherry (43%) and Lakshadweep (41%). Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have the highest share of thin men.

Note: Obesity is the leading cause of several non-communicable and progressive diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and those related to liver and increased risks of stroke.

Read more: NFHS-5 and its findings – Explained, pointwise

Source: The post is based on the following articles “Fertility falls, obesity goes up in India, says National Family Health Survey” published in The Hindu on 7th May 2022

“Nearly one-fourth of all men and women in India are now obese: NFHS” published in Business Standard on 7th May 2022

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