According to the key findings of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS), Indians are far from ideal living conditions and that a misogynistic and patriarchal mind-set still prevails across the country. The NFHS-5 survey work has been conducted in around 6.37 lakh sample households from 707 districts of the country from 28 states and eight Union Territories, covering 7,24,115 women and 1,01,839 men to provide dis-aggregated estimates up to the district level.
50 Per Cent Of Women Aged 15-24 Years Still Use Cloth For Menstrual Protection
In India, 64 per cent use sanitary napkins, 50 per cent use cloth, and 15 per cent use locally prepared napkins, the report stated. Overall, 78 per cent of women in this age group use a hygienic method of menstrual protection. The lowest percentages of women use a hygienic method of menstrual protection in Bihar (59 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (61 per cent) and Meghalaya (65 per cent).
Lack of awareness and taboos existing around menstruation are major contributors.
35 Per Cent Men Say Contraception Is “Women’s Business”
About 35.1 per cent of men believe that contraception is “women’s business” while 19.6 per cent men think that women who use contraceptives may become promiscuous. Among the states and Union Territories, Chandigarh has the highest percentage of men at 69 per cent who believe that contraception is women’s business and a man should not have to worry about it while 44.1 per cent of the surveyed men from Kerala agreed that women who use contraception may become promiscuous. The data showed that women who are employed are more likely to use modern contraception as 66.3 per cent of them use a modern contraceptive method, compared with 53.4 per cent of women who are not employed.
19 Per Cent Of Households Do Not Use Any Toilet Facility
Even though India was declared Open Defecation Free by the government in 2019, the latest NFHS survey conducted in 2019-21 showed that 19 percent of households do not use any toilet facility. The report however highlighted that the percentage of households practising open defecation decreased from 39 percent in 2015-16 to 19 per cent in 2019-21. Access to a toilet facility is lowest in Bihar (62 per cent), followed by Jharkhand (70 per cent) and Odisha (71 per cent).
One In Every Four Indians Is Now Obese
Obesity has increased at a national level from 21 per cent to 24 per cent among women, and 19 per cent to 23 per cent among men. It 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.
India's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Has Declined From 2.2 To 2.0 In 2019-21
The TFR is the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime. The governments set targets for TFR for the purpose of population control. TFR of 2.1 is considered the replacement level fertility rate at which population stability is achieved. According to the report, India has made significant progress in population control measures in recent times with the TFR, but there are wide inter-regional variations with five states still not having achieved a replacement level of fertility of 2.1. Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) and Manipur (2.17) are the five states, according to the NFHS-5 conducted from 2019-21.