General Knowledge- Highlights of the Report ‘Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal’

Highlights of the Report ‘Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal’- Part 1

While an absolute increase of 181 million in the country’s  population has been   recorded during the decade 2001-2011, there is a reduction of 5.05 millions in the  population of children aged 0-6 years during this period. The decline in male children is 2.06 million and in female children is 2.99 millions.

The share of Children (0-6 years) in the total population has showed a decline of 2.8  points in 2011, compared to Census 2001 and the decline was sharper for female  children than male children in the age group 0-6 years.

The overall sex ratio of the Country is showing a trend of improvement, whereas the  child sex ratio is showing a declining trend. During the period 1991 -2011, child sex  ratio declined from 945 to 914, whereas the overall sex ratio showed an  improvement from 927 to 940.

As per Census 2011, the State/ UTs with alarmingly low (<900) child sex ratio are,  Haryana (830), Punjab (846), Jammu & Kashmir (859), Delhi (866), Chandigarh  (867), Rajasthan (883), Maharashtra (883), Uttrakhand (886), Gujarat (886), Uttar  Pradesh (899). The State/ UTs which are having better (> =950) child sex ratio are  Mizoram, (971), Meghalaya (970), A  &N Islands (966), Puducherry (965),  Chattisgarh (964), Arunachal Pradesh (960), Kerala (959), Assam (957), Tripura  (953), West Bengal (950).

Though, the child sex ratio in rural India is 919 which is 17 points higher than that of urban India, the decline in Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) during 2001-2011 in rural  areas is more than three times as compared to the drop in urban India.

Compared to 2001, the number of districts in the lowest category of child sex ratio (<= 850) has increased in rural areas whereas the number of districts in this category has declined in urban areas in 2011.

Compared to 2000-2005 period, where sex ratio dipped continuously (from 892 to  880), the period 2005-10, has showed slight improvement (from 892 to 905).

Among the major States, as per SRS 2008-10, Sex Ratio at Birth is lowest in Punjab  (832) followed by Haryana (848) and highest in Chattisgarh (985), followed by  Kerala (966).

Comparing the results of 2002-04 and 2008-10, Sex ratio at birth declined in Tamil Nadu (decline of 19 points) and Orissa (decline of 6 points) whereas all the other bigger States showed improvement during this period.

The State/ UTs which have achieved 100% level of birth registration in 2007 are Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab,Tamil nadu, Chandigarh, Lakshadeep and Puducherry.

The Sample Registration System, in 2010,  estimated that, out of the total deaths reported, 14. 5% are infant deaths (< 1 years), 3.9% are deaths of 1-4 years children,  18.4% are deaths of children of 0-4 years and 2.7% deaths pertained to children of  5-14 years.

The percentage of infant deaths to total deaths varies substantially across the states.  From moderate level of 2.8% in Kerala, 5.0% in Tamil Nadu to as high as 21.8% in  Rajasthan , 21.2% in Uttar Pradesh, 20.4% in Madhya Pradesh with other states  figuring in between these states. The percentage of under five deaths to total deaths  ranges from 3.2% in Kerala 5.9% in Tamil Nadu to 27.6% in Uttar Pradesh, 26.6%  in Rajasthan, 26.4%in Madhya Pradesh, 26.7% in Bihar while other states figure in  between these states.

At the national level, the percentage share of infant deaths to total deaths in rural  areas is 15.8%, whereas in urban areas, the same is 9.7%.

In 2010, the percentage of neo- natal deaths to total infant deaths is 69.3% at national level and varies from 61.9% in urban areas to 70.6% in rural areas. Among  the bigger States, Jammu & Kashmir (82.1%) registered the highest percentage of  neonatal deaths to infant deaths and the lowest is in Kerala (53.2%).

In 2010, the neonatal mortality rate (neo- natal deaths per thousand live births) at  national level is at 33 and ranges from 19 in urban areas to 36 in rural areas. Among  bigger states, neo-natal mortality rate is highest in Madhya Pradesh (44) and lowest  in Kerala (7).

At the national level, the early neo –natal mortality rate for the year 2010 has been  estimated at 25 and ranges from 28 in rural areas to 15 in urban areas. Among the  bigger States, Kerala (5) and Madhya Pradesh (34) are at the two extremes.

The percentage of early neo – natal deaths to the total infant deaths during the year  2010, at the national level has been 53.9 and it varies from 54.6 in rural areas to  49.6 in urban areas. Among bigger States, the percentage of early neo natal deaths  for total infant deaths varies from the lowest level of 38.7% in Kerala to the highest  level of 69.4% in Jammu & Kashmir.

In 2010, IMR is reported to be 47 at the national level, and varies from 51 in rural areas to 31 in urban areas.

Infant mortality has declined for males from 78 in 1990 to 46 in 2010 and for  females the decline was from 81 to 49 during this period. The per year decline in IMR was 1.6 points for both males and females and the percentage decline in female IMR is 39.5% and the percentage decline in male IMR is 41.02% during the last two decades.

Female infants experienced a higher mortality rate than male infants in all major states.

Though the Urban and Rural gap in infant mortality has declined over the years, still  it is very significant. IMR has declined in urban areas from 50 in 1990 to 31 in  2010, whereas in rural areas IMR has declined from 86 to 51 during the same period.

SRS based U5MR in India for the year 2010, stands at 59 and it varies from 66 in rural areas to 38 in Urban areas. The under five mortality rate is higher for females than males as in 2010, U5MR stood at 64 for females whereas it is 55 for males.

As per Coverage Evaluation Survey, 2009,  at national level, 61% of the children aged 12-23 months have received full immunization. The coverage of immunization  was higher in urban areas (67.4%) compared to that in the rural areas (58.5%).

In 2009, nearly 8% children of the children aged 12-23 months did not receive even  a single vaccine.

Nearly 62% of the male children aged 12-23 months have received full  immunization, while among the females it was nearly 60%.

While 67.4% of first birth order children are fortunate enough to receive full  immunization, only 40.4% were so in the  category of birth order 4 and above are covered under full immunisation.

The full immunization coverage of children age 12- 23 months of mother’s  education with 12 or more years is 76.6% whereas for mothers who had no  education only 45.3% of children got full immunization.

About 75.5% of children of less than one year belonging to the highest wealth index  group are fully immunized while only 47.3% from the lowest quintile are fully  immunized.

The full immunization coverage of children age 12-23 months is highest in Goa (87.9%), followed by Sikkim (85.3%), Punjab (83.6%), and Kerala (81.5%). The full immunization coverage is lowest in Arunachal Pradesh (24.8%).

Evident from the 2008/09 HIV estimates (latest Sentinel surveillance rounds), in 2009, the number of HIV infections has  decreased from 24.42 lakhs in 2008 to  23.95 lakhs in 2009. However, the percent distribution of HIV infections for the age group 0- 15 years has increased from 4.20% in 2008 to 4.36% in 2009, indicating  increased number of HIV infected children in 2009.

The prevalence of low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg at birth) is 22.5% as estimated by NFHS 3, but In NFHS 3 birth weight was reported only in 34.1% of cases of live births (60% of urban and 25% of rural).

As per NFHS 3, 48% of children under age five years are stunted (too short for their  age) which indicates that, half of  the country’s children are chronically  malnourished. Acute malnutrition, as evidenced by wasting, results in a child being  too thin for his or her height. 19.8% of children under five years in the country are  wasted which indicates that, one out of every five children in India is wasted. 43%  of children under age five years are underweight for their age.