National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16: Uttar Pradesh

One-third of the households in Uttar Pradesh lived in pucca (permanent) structures, and seven out of every 10 (71 per cent) had electricity. More than half the households (54 per cent) did not have any sanitation facility – their members defecated in the open – and 70 per cent of these were in rural areas. Only 10 per cent were in urban areas. 

Thirty six per cent of women and 16 per cent of men (both in the 15-49 age group) had never been to school. Only 23 per cent of women had completed 12 or more years of schooling compared with 28 per cent of men. 

The state’s fertility rate was 2.7 children per woman – one of the highest in India – and 61 per cent of births had occurred within three years of the previous birth. Among women aged 15-19, four per cent already had children, which was down from 14 per cent in NFHS-3. Thirty-one per cent of women and 28 per cent of men wanted more sons than daughters.

Forty six per cent of married women aged 15-49 used contraceptives, which was up slightly from NFHS-3 (44 per cent). Contraceptive use in rural areas was 42 per cent, while in urban areas it was 56 per cent. Thirty-eight per cent of men aged 15-49 thought that contraception was a woman’s business, and 68 per cent knew that a condom, if used correctly, could protect against pregnancies most of the time.

Seventy two per cent of women, who gave birth in the five years before the survey, received antenatal care from a health professional for their last birth, but 24 per cent did not receive such care. Only 26 per cent of mothers received at least four antenatal care visits from a professional for their last birth. Sixty eight per cent of children, who were born in the five years before the survey, were delivered in a health facility. 

About 51 per cent of children in the age group 12-23 months received all the basic vaccinations against six major childhood illnesses (tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio and measles). Most children had got most vaccinations, and only 9 per cent had not received any.

Among children between the ages of 6 and 59 months, a large majority (63 per cent) were anaemic. Almost 58 per cent of UP’s children were anaemic even if their mother had 12 or more years of schooling.

According to self-reports (responses chosen by those surveyed from a questionnaire without researcher interference), 996 of every 100,000 women and 1,061 of every 100,000 men (both in the 15-49 age group) had diabetes. The numbers for asthma were 1,179 per 100,000 women and 963 per 100,000 men. The prevalence of asthma among women and men was higher in older age groups, while in the case of heart disease, it was more than twice as high among women (1,433 per 100,000) than men (648 per 100,000). 

More than half of the men, but only eight per cent of the women (age group 15-49) used some form of tobacco. Men were less likely to drink alcohol (22 per cent) than to use tobacco, and almost no women said that they drank. 

Only six per cent of the households surveyed had any kind of health insurance that covered at least one member. 

Only 25 per cent of women (age group 15-49) were employed as against 79 per cent of men in the same age group. Among employed women, 66 per cent earned cash, including 11 per cent whose earnings were in both cash and kind and 27 per cent who were not paid at all. Eighty eight per cent of employed men earned in cash and only 10 per cent were not paid at all. 

Fifty five per cent of women had a bank account that they used themselves. Of these, 73 per cent had 12 or more years of schooling. Twenty eight per cent of all women knew of a microcredit programme and only 2 per cent had ever taken a loan from one. 

Thirty three per cent of all women owned a house and 26 per cent owned land, either by themselves or with someone else. 

Among women (age group 15-49), 33 per cent had experienced physical violence and six per cent, sexual violence. Among those who were currently or previously married, 37 per cent had been physically or sexually assaulted by their spouses, 14 per cent reported emotional violence, and a mere two per had been violent towards their spouses. 

Only 15 per cent of women who were physically or sexually assaulted, sought help. Nearly four-fifths (77 per cent) of women neither sought help nor told anyone about the violence.

Factoids and Focus by Revathi Ram.

PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.