Unintended pregnancy accounts for more than 40% of the total pregnancies worldwide. An Unintended pregnancy can have serious implications on women and their families. With more than one-fourth of the children in India born out of unintended pregnancies such pregnancies are considered to be one of the major public health concerns today. The present study is aimed at determining major predictors of unintended pregnancy among currently pregnant ever-married women in India. The present study has used National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data, conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, to show the trend, pattern and determinants of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies. Bivariate and multinomial logistic regression model have been used with the help of Stata 13 software. The results show that the likelihood of a mistimed pregnancy is more prevalent among young women whereas the prevalence of unwanted pregnancy is observed more among the women aged 35 years or more. The results also show that the risk of experiencing mistimed pregnancy decreases if the woman belongs to ‘other’ castes and has higher education. The likelihood of unwanted pregnancy decreases among married women aged 18 years and above, those women having higher education, some autonomy and access to any mode of mass communication. Knowledge of these predictors of mistimed and unwanted pregnancy will be helpful in identifying the most vulnerable group and prioritize the intervention strategies of the reproductive health programmes for the population in need.

OBJECTIVES: India still faces the burden of undernutrition and communicable diseases, and the prevalence of overweight/obesity is steadily increasing. The discourse regarding the dual burden of underweight and overweight/obesity has not yet been widely explored in both men and women. The present study assessed the determinants of underweight and overweight/obesity in India among adult men and women aged 15-49.METHODS: Population-based cross-sectional and nationally representative data from the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), consisting of a sample of men and women, were analyzed. Stratified 2-stage sampling was used in the NFHS-4 study protocol. In the present study, bivariate and adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the correlates of underweight and overweight/obesity.RESULTS: The results suggested a persistently high prevalence of underweight coexisting with an increased prevalence of overweight/obesity in India. The risk of underweight was highest in the central and western regions and was also relatively high among those who used either smoking or smokeless tobacco. Overweight/obesity was more prevalent in urban areas, in the southern region, and among adults aged 35-49. Furthermore, level of education and wealth index were positively associated with overweight/obesity. More educated and wealthier adults were less likely to be underweight.CONCLUSIONS: In India, underweight has been prevalent, and the prevalence of overweight/obesity is increasing rapidly, particularly among men. The dual burden of underweight and overweight/obesity is alarming and needs to be considered; public health measures to address this situation must also be adopted through policy initiatives.

A B S T R A C TBackground: Early detection of anemia and subsequent measures to prevent anemia can help children grow healthily. There is considerable attention given to the impact of individual-level factors on Anaemia, but less is known about how community characteristics affect Anaemia among children. The present study was focused at estimating the prevalence and associated risk factors at individual and community level in India among children aged 6-59 months in India. Methods: Descriptive statistics and the chi-square test were applied using fourth round of National Family Health Survey dataset. Later, to explore the association of child anemia and some potential risk factors regarding hierarchy (individual and community level) of data, a multilevel logistic regression model was conducted using STATA-SE 14 software. Results: The results indicate that some aspects of the community influence the anemia risks of children. For instance, a 1% increase in the proportion of mother education in the community decreased the likelihood of anemia by 9% among children. Northeast region was the only region at lesser risk of anemia. Higher community level ethnic and religious homogeneity is associated with decreased odds of anemia among children. Children aged 12-35 months, girl child, children having diarrhoea, mothers of age group 15-24, high parity and low exposure to mass-media were the high risk individual factors of anemia among children. Conclusions: Overall, the present study indicated the requirement to include community-level factors beyond the individual level factors by policymakers to eradicate the burden of anemia in the country and the high prevalence states.

The article highlights the situation of child labour using the Census data of Government of India from 1971 to 2011. This study has also utilized the National Sample Survey Organization 68th round data on employment and unemployment of child labour in India. In this study, bivariate and multivariate analysis has been carried out. The chi-square test has been used to study the association between child labour and various socio-economic characteristics. The multiple logistic regression technique has been used to find out the factors affecting child labour. All the analysis has been carried out in SPSS and STATA software. The article has highlighted the growth rate of child labour and its distribution with socio- economic characteristics and work participation rate of child labour in India. Using the logistic regression, the study has projected the estimates of child labour in India. Besides that, the article recommended various suggestions for the abolition and regulation of the incidences of child labour in India.

No abstract

No abstract

Purpose This study on spatial analysis of child labour in India is a macro level analysis on child labour using the census data, 2011 of Government of India. The population census which is conducted once in 10 years only provides district level data on work-force distribution. The study has spatial analysis of child labour in the age group of 5–14 years in India. To assess the magnitude of the children in the labour force, district level data of Census 2011 has been used in the study. The study has made an attempt to identify the districts where there is high level of children in the labour force. This paper aims to estimate the magnitude and trends of children’s workforce participation using the census data as it is the only data base, which is available at the district level since 1961 onwards. The study has made an attempt to identify the clustering of child labour across districts in India and how child labour is clustered by different background characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The study has used ArcGIS software package, GeoDa software and local indicator of spatial association test. Findings The findings of study reveal that the proportion of rural, total fertility rate (TFR) and poverty headcount ratio is positively associated, whereas female literacy and the pupil-teacher ratio are negatively associated with child labour. It suggests that in the hot-spot areas and areas where there is a high prevalence of child labour, there is need to increase the teacher's number at the school level to improve the teacher-pupil ratio and also suggested to promote the female education, promote family planning practices to reduce TFR in those areas for reducing the incidences of child labour. Research limitations/implications The study also recommends that the incidences of child labour can be controlled by a comprehensive holistic action plan with the active participation of social workers. Practical implications The promulgation of effective legislation, active involvement of judiciary and police, political will, effective poverty alleviation and income generation programmes, sensitisation of parents, corporates and media can play effective role in mitigating the incidences of child labour in India. To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015 to eradicate child labour in all its forms by 2025. Social implications The study aims to achieve the SDGs adopted by world leaders in 2015 to eradicate child labour in all its forms by 2025. Originality/value The study is purely original and there are no such studies in Indian context by using the latest software.

No abstract