Child Mortality Transition among Children Born to Adolescent Mothers in India: A Study Based on National Family Health Survey (NFHS) Data

Abstract

KEYWORDS Survival Chances of Children. Type of Residence. Birth Interval. Age at Marriage. Sex of the Children. Ever Born Children ABSTRACT Adolescent (15-19 years) marriages are still in practice in many parts of India. As a result, many conceptions lead to mortality . Hence the data has been taken from National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which represents all India data, for the analysis. The survival chances of children have been considered for analysis. The logistic analysis has been done for the last birth order and last but one birth order using different variables in three different models. The findings indicate a distinct change from NFHS II onwards. NFHS III data has shown marked decline in mortality of infants and children. A good proportion (90 per cent) of adolescent mothers belonging to NFHS-I and II have not used any contraception compared to 87 per cent belonging to NFHS-III. Female children had better survival chances than male children in recent surveys (NFHS-III). Number of children ever born and age of the mother at marriage have seems to have inverse relation with survival status of child.