Comparative analysis of NFHS 5 and NFHS 4 data

The National Family Health Survey 2020-21 (NFHS-5) factsheet for Uttar Pradesh was released on 24
November 2021. Following are some important poimts from the comparative analysis between NFHS-4
(2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2020-21):

Population and household profile

• Birth registration be civil authority increased from 60.2 to 79.5 percent.

• Population living in households with electricity increased from 72.6 percent to 91.0 percent

NFHS-5 NFHS-4 Point

Population and household profile (2020-21) (2015-16) difference
Children under age 5 years whose birth was 79.5 60.2 19.3
registered with the civil authority (%)
Deaths in the last 3 years registered with the civil 47.3 na
authority (%)
Population living in households with electricity (%) 91.0 72.6 18.4
Population living in households with an improved 99.2 98.4 0.8
drinking-water source (%)
Households using clean fuel for cooking (%) 49.5 32.7 16.8
Households with any usual member covered under a 15.9 6.1 9.8
health insurance/financing scheme (%)

Marriage and fertility indicators

Marriage and fertility indicators have shown considerable progress as follows:

✓ 5.3 points decrease in women age 20-24 years who got married before age 18 years.
✓ TFR (children per women) decreased by 0.3 points from 2.7 in NFHS 4 to 2.4 in NFHS 5. In urban
areas, it has reached 1.9
✓ Approximately one-point decrease in women age 15-19 years who were already mothers or
pregnant at the time of the survey in NFHS 5.

NFHS-5 NFHS-4 Point

(2020-21) (2015-16) decline
Marriage and fertility
Women age 20-24 years married before age 18 15.8 21.1 5.3
years (%)
Total fertility rate (children per woman) 2.4 2.7 0.3
Women age 15-19 years who were already mothers 2.9 3.8 0.9
or pregnant at the time of the survey (%)

Contraceptive use

There has been an increase of 16.9 percent in the use of any method of contraception and 12.8 percent
in the use of modern methods of contraception, with the total unmet need declining by 5.2 percent.
 Current Use of Family Planning Methods (currently married
women age 15–49 years)
80
62.4
60
45.5 44.5
40 31.7
18.1
20 12.9

0
Any method (%) Any modern method (%) Total unmet need (%)

NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-5 (2020-21)

Maternity Care

Improvement in antenatal care is indicated by 16 percent increase both in women getting an antenatal
check-up in the first trimester as well as those receiving 4 ANC check-ups. A very encouraging increase
has happened in institutional births with more than 4 out of 5 women now delivering in institutions (an
increase of 15.6 percent). The average out of pocket expenditure has seen a slight increase of INR 344
per delivery.

Maternity Care (for last birth in the 5 years NFHS-5 (2020-21) NFHS-4 (2015-16) Point
before the survey) increase

Mothers who had an antenatal check-up in 62.5 45.9 16.6

the first trimester (%)
Mothers who had at least 4 antenatal care 42.4 26.4 16.0
visits (%)
Mothers who consumed iron folic acid for 9.7 3.9 5.8
180 days or more when they were pregnant
(%)
Institutional births (%) 83.4 67.8 15.6

Average out-of-pocket expenditure per 2300.0 1956.0 344.0

delivery in a public health facility (Rs.)

Child immunization and childhood illnesses

69.6 percent children if the age 12-23 months were found to be fully immunized as compared to 51.1
percent in 2015-16. Prevalence of childhood diarrhea reduced from 15 percent to 5.6 percent, a
corollary probably of increased use of toilets. Use of ORS for diarrhea management increased from 37.9
to 50.7 percent and zinc from 12.6 to 28.5 percent.
80 69.6
70
60 51.1
50
40
30
20
10
0
Children age 12-23 months fully vaccinated based on information from either vaccination card or
mother's recall (%)

NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-5 (2020-21)

Child feeding practices and nutritional indicators

A 6.6 percent reduction was seen in under-five children with stunting and 7.4 percent reduction in
underweight children. Early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth reduced from 25.2 to
23.9 percent and needs attention. Exclusive breastfeeding rates increased from 41.6 to 59.7 percent.
Anemia rates in pregnant women reduced from 51.0 to 45.9 percent. However, childhood anemia
increased from 63.2 to 66.4 percent.

NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-5 (2020-21) Point

Child Feeding Practices and Nutritional difference
Status of Children

Children under 5 years who are stunted 46.3 39.7 6.6

(height-for-age) (%)
Children under 5 years who are wasted 17.9 17.3 0.6
(weight-for-height) (%)
Children under 5 years who are 39.5 32.1 7.4
underweight (weight-for-age) %

Adult blood sugar levels and hypertension

10 percent women and 11.6 percent men were found to have high or very high blood sugar levels or
were taking medicines to control blood sugar levels. 18.4 percent women and 21.7 percent men were
found to have elevated blood pressure or were taking medicines to control blood pressure. This
indicates the increasing prevalence on non-communicable lifestyle diseases.

Menstrual hygiene/women empowerment

Use of hygienic methods of protection during menstrual periods increased by 15.5 percent which can be
seen as an indicator of empowerment and awareness.
 Women's Empowerment (women age 15-49 years)
80.0 72.6
70.0
60.0
47.1
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Women age 15-24 years who use hygienic methods of protection during their menstrual period (%)

NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-5 (2020-21)

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