NFHS-6 Shows District-Level Gains and Emerging Challenges

Why in the News ?

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released provisional district-wise NFHS-2023-24 factsheets, revealing that improvements in child nutrition and women’s financial inclusion have spread across most districts, while rising obesity among women and declining institutional births remain significant concerns.

District-Level Improvements in Health and Inclusion

●     The NFHS 2023-24 provides district-level evidence on demographic, health, economic and social indicators, complementing national and State-level findings released earlier.

●     Among 564 comparable districts, only 84 districts (15%) recorded an increase in the proportion of underweight children below five years since 2019-21.

●     Only 41 districts witnessed an increase of more than 1 percentage point, indicating broad improvement in child nutritional outcomes.

●     Aizawl, Mizoram recorded the highest proportion of underweight children at 12.6%, only marginally higher than in 2019-21.

●     Nicobar witnessed the largest increase, with the proportion rising by 10 percentage points to 11.6%.

●     Women’s financial inclusion also improved significantly, with the proportion having bank accounts they personally use increasing in 523 of 560 districts.

●     Even districts experiencing declines generally maintained high levels of financial inclusion, with the proportion remaining above 80%.

Concerns: Obesity and Institutional Births

●     Alongside favourable trends, NFHS data highlights the spread of certain adverse health outcomes, particularly overweight and obesity among women.

●     The proportion of overweight/obese women increased in 510 of 565 districts, with 478 districts registering growth exceeding one percentage point.

●     Srinagar, Visakhapatnam, Navsari and Mumbai recorded increases of more than 20 percentage points, highlighting an emerging nutrition transition.

●     Institutional births showed a contrasting trend, with their proportion declining in 181 of 566 districts.

●     125 districts recorded declines exceeding one percentage point.

●     Garo Hills districts, Barwani and Udaipur experienced declines of 15 percentage points or more, indicating uneven progress in maternal healthcare access.

 About National Family Health Survey:

●     NFHS is a large-scale household survey providing data on fertility, mortality, maternal and child health, nutrition, family planning and women’s empowerment.

●     It is conducted under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical coordination by designated research institutions.

●     NFHS provides more frequent health and social indicators than the Census, which is conducted periodically.

●     District-level data enables identification of regional disparities and helps target welfare interventions.

●     However, comparisons require caution because new districts, varying sample sizes and boundary changes can affect trend analysis.

●     The 2023-24 findings demonstrate that India’s development gains are increasingly reaching the district level, but nutritional and maternal-health challenges remain uneven.