Vol. XVI Issue 2 April - June 2012 2012 Documentation ... - Nipccd

9. Sharma, Suresh. (~2003).
Child health and nutritional status of children : the role of sex differentials.
New Delhi : Delhi University, Institute of Economic Growth. ~31p.
http://www.iegindia.org/workpap/wp262.pdf
Background: In India, the son is often described as an insurance in old age for
parents. In India, there has been a steady decline in the sex ration from 972 in
1901 to 933 females per 1000 males in 2001. Women in India face
discrimination in terms of several political, and economic opportunities as a
result of their inferior status. Gender differentials in nutritional status are
documented during infancy, with discriminatory breast feeding and
supplementation practices. In Haryana the total child mortality ages (1-4)
Female/ Male is 2.16 in comparison to the figure of India which is 1.47. The
birth rate in Haryana is 4.0 compared to 3.6 for India as a whole.
Objectives: To examine the patterns of gender differences for children in the
north state of Haryana in India for Health Outcomes.
Methods: The study was conducted in Haryana district. Data was collected from
NFHS-2. Information was gathered from 2,908 women. The analyses was
based on data from a sub sample of 994 children born to women in the last
three years preceding the surveys and who were alive at the time of the survey.
For each child born during the reference period, the mother was asked a series
of questions about breast feeding, immunization and treatment seeking for
common childhood disease such as acute respiratory infection (ARI) and
diarrhea.
Findings: About 50 per cent mothers had received no education; 77 per cent of
the sample lived in the rural areas; school attendance was used to assess
discrimination against female children; the female/ male ratio in school
attendance rates indicated a striking deprivation for female children; the female/
male ratio for school attendance indicated lesser differences for the age group
6-10 years but more pronounced differences in the 10+ years, due to the higher
dropout rate for girls compared to boys at the later stage .In Haryana, 63 per
cent of children in the age group of 12-23 months were fully vaccinated,
another 27 per cent had received some but not all of the recommended
vaccinations, and 10 per cent had not been vaccinated at all; immunization
coverage had improved considerably since NFHS-I; DPT and polio
vaccinations were given at the same time as part of routine immunization the
coverage rates were slightly higher for polio than for DPT; the overall figures for
immunization covered suggested that girls were more likely to be fully
vaccinated than boys (66% versus 65%); girls received each individual
vaccinations except for measles; mothers showed a vaccination card for 26 per
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DCWC Research Bulletin Vol. XVI April - June 2012