The National Family Health Survey - India - Health Education to Villages

Focus on Diarrhoea,
Dehydration & Rehydration

Mother and Child Nutrition
& Malnutrition

India

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)

National Family Health Survey, India 1998-1999 (NFHS-2)
Centre for Operations Research and Training,
Vadodara And International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai

A large-scale National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in most of larger states and National Capital Territory of Delhi in 1992-1993. The repeated survey NFHS-2, 1998-1999. Both have focus on fertility and child mortality, family planning and health. NFHS 2 was funded by USAID through ORC Macro and UNICEF.

Three wallcharts highlight data from the NFHS-2, a major survey of 90,000 ever-married Indian women ages 15 to 49, conducted in 1998–1999. The survey series was initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India and coordinated by the International Institute for Population Sciences, in Bombay. The wallcharts cover: Health and Family Welfare, Women and Reproductive Health, and Welfare of Children and Youth. (2000)

NFHS-2 publishes two types of reports for each of the states covered by the survey: Preliminary report and Final report, and one single detailed National report.

Preliminary reports
Preliminary reports for all 26 states are published. You can download these reports for viewing or printing.

Final reports
State final reports are being finalised now. The aggregated national report and state final reports for several states are already published. You can download all these reports for viewing or printing. Reports are divided into several parts. You can download any or all of them.

Data files for all the states and India for both rounds of NFHS are available at www.measuredhs.com or by email from the National Family Health Survey office at Mumbai.

INTRODUCTION

The survey was carried out as a major component of the Project to strengthen the Survey Research Capabilities of the Population Research Centres in India, initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and funded by the United State Agency for International Development. The International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai (I.I.P.S) , was designated as the nodal agency for providing coordination and technical guidance to the NFHS. The data collection for the NFHS was undertaken by seven Consulting Organizations in collaboration with the concerned Population Research Centres in each State. The East-West Center/Macro International, United States of America, provided technical assistance for all of the survey operations.

Summary of Findings

NFHS-I (1992-93)

NFHS is a nationally representative survey of ever-married women age 13-49. The NFHS covered the population of 24 States and the National Capital Territory of Delhi to provide demographic and health data for interstate comparisons. The main objectives of the survey was to collect reliable and up-to-date national-level and state-level data on fertility, nuptiality, fertility preferences, knowledge and practice of family planning, the potential demand for contraception, the level of unwanted fertility, utilization of ante natal services, breast feeding and food supplementation practices, child nutrition and health, vaccinations and infant and child mortality.

In the NFHS, a total of 88,562 households were covered, and the interviewers collected information from 89,777 ever-married women age 13-49 (23,455 in urban areas and 66,322 in rural areas). The field work was conducted in three phases between April 1992 to September 1993.

NFHS-II (1998-99)

The second NFHS conducted in 1998-99 provides information on fertility, mortality, family planning and important aspects of nutrition, health and health care. The survey collected information from a nationally representative sample of more than 90,000 ever-married women age 15-49. The NFHS-2 sample covers 99 percent of India’s population living in all 26 states. This report is based on the survey data for 25 of the 26 states, however, since data collection in Tripura was delayed due to local problem in the state.

Most of the types of information collected in NFHS-2 were also collected in the earlier survey, making it possible to identify trends over the intervening period of six and one-half years. In addition, this survey questionnaire covered number of new or expanded topics with important policy implications, such as reproductive health, women’s autonomy, domestics violence, women nutrition, anemia and salt iodization.

The NFHS-2 survey was carried out in two phases. Ten States were surveyed in the first phase which began in March, 1999. The field staff collected information from 91,196 households in these 25 states and interviewed 89,199 eligible women in these households. In addition, the survey collected information on 32,393 children born in the three years preceding the survey. One health investigator on each survey team measured the height and weight of eligible women and children and took blood samples to assess the prevalence of anaemia.

For more information, please contact IIPS, MUMBAI E-Mail: iipsnfhs@vsnl.com

Website: www.nfhsindia.org

04 March, 2008