Major Correlates of Anemia among Women (Age 15-49) in India and Spatial Variation, Evidence from National Family Health Survey-4

Abstract

Background: In the developing countries like India, Anemia continues to remain a serious nutritional problem. The National Family Health Survey (2015-16) has reported a 53% prevalence of Anemia among women, a sluggish decline from 58% in NFHS-3. Objective: The study determines the prevalence of anemia among women by several background characteristics. It also tries to examine the socio-economic inequality in anemia among women across Indian states and attempts to analyze the spatial correlation of anemia among women and its co-variates across 640 districts of India. Methods: The data is taken from the IV round of National Family Health Survey (2015-2016) conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Bivariate analysis and Binary Logistic Regression analysis were used to assess the effects of socio-economic characteristics. Concentration Index and Poor-Rich ratios have been calculated to understand the socio-economic inequality whereas spatial analysis was done to understand the spatial correlation among women and its covariates. Results: Anemia is highly prevalent among women belonging to rural areas and lowest wealth quantiles. Some behavioral factors of women were found to be positively associated with anemia. The highest inequality is being observed in the north-eastern states like Manipur, Nagaland etc. Moran's I value depicts high auto correlation; the hotspots were found in the Eastern and Western regions of India. Discussion: Despite slight improvements, hemoglobin concentrations remain low while anemia prevalence remains high in poorest parts of the world. The rich and poor gap seems to be a big matter of concern. Women in India are not only suffering from economic inequalities but also inequalities in terms of food and malnutrition. Wealth is