The effect of the National Birth Defects Intervention Project on the prevention of congenital disabilities among children in China: a natural experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 124 (7) ◽  
pp. 709-714
Author(s):  
Chao Guo ◽  
Xiaoying Zheng

AbstractMost childhood disabilities are caused by congenital factors such as birth defects. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of periconceptional nutrition intervention on the prevention of congenital disability among Chinese children using the National Birth Defects Intervention Project as a natural experiment. We obtained individual-level data from the Second National Sample Survey on Disability, a nationally representative survey, and 110 365 children born between September 1999 and August 2003 were included for analysis. Difference-in-differences estimates of the project effects on congenital disability were captured by exploiting temporal variation in the timing of project exposure across four birth cohorts along with geographical variation in project category at the province level. The findings contribute to an emerging body of evidence showing that prenatal micronutrient intervention before and during early pregnancy could substantially reduce the risk of congenital disability in childhood (OR 0·73; 95 % CI 0·57, 0·94). The National Birth Defects Intervention Project improved the awareness of reproductive health and disability prevention in the population. It highlights the need for a potential policy change focusing on early-life health investment in China.

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-34
Author(s):  
Imtiyaz Ali ◽  
Abdul Jaleel CP ◽  
RB Bhagat

By using unit level data on migration from nationally representative National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) for two points of time (1993 and 2007-08), this paper looks at the change in the level of employment related inter-state out migration in India. This paper brings out: the change occurred in the rate of inter-state out-migration between 1993 and 2007-08, the proportion of economically engaged women within the category of women who migrated due to marriage out of their state, the volume of employment related inter-state out migration of women, and finally, the propensity of Indian people for employment related inter-state out migration by their social, economic and geographical attributes. This paper finds a two times increase in inter-state out-migration in India during last one and a half decades. The increase is found even higher in many states/union territories and when we confine the analysis only to the working-age population. The gender gap has been glaring. Compared to 35 males per 1000 working age male population out-migrating across the border of their state of domicile for employment there is only 10 per 1000 working age females.  Further female migration in India is predominantly occurs within the state. Out of the total women inter-state out-migrants, 4 percent reported to have migrated exclusively for employment, while more than 80 per cent reported marriage as a reason of migration. In India, economic activity of women is under reported. Keeping this in view, we have tried to adjust the reason of migration for women. This study shows that the adjusted employment related reason of migration for inter-state women rises to 18 per cent at the all India level. The logistic regression analysis further shows that these women who reported marriage a reason of migration but actually part of the workforce belong to lower socio-economic households.


Author(s):  
Chayanika Mitra

This article attempts to capture gender bias in education expenditure among the religious (Hindu, Muslim and others) and the social groups (SC, ST and General) in West Bengal. Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition technique is used to obtain gender bias for a specific demographic group. Further, an attempt has been made to identify the religious or social groups with the acute problem of gender bias. In this work, 71st round (January–June 2014) education expenditure data (individual level) provided by NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) is used. JEL: I24, R1, C55


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manika Sharma ◽  
Avinash Kishore ◽  
Devesh Roy ◽  
Kuhu Joshi

Abstract Background The 2019 EAT-Lancet Commission report recommends healthy diets that can feed 10 billion people by 2050 from environmentally sustainable food systems. This study compares food consumption patterns in India, from different income groups, regions and sectors (rural/urban), with the EAT-Lancet reference diet and highlights the deviations. Methods The analysis was done using data from the Consumption Expenditure Survey (CES) of a nationally representative sample of 0.102 million households from 7469 villages and 5268 urban blocks of India conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 2011-12. This is the most recent nationally representative data on household consumption in India. Calorie consumption (kcal/capita/day) of each food group was calculated using the quantity of consumption from the data and nutritional values of food items provided by NSSO. Diets for rural and urban, poor and rich households across different regions were compared with EAT-Lancet reference diet. Results The average daily calorie consumption in India is below the recommended 2503 kcal/capita/day across all groups compared, except for the richest 5% of the population. Calorie share of whole grains is significantly higher than the EAT-Lancet recommendations while those of fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish and eggs are significantly lower. The share of calories from protein sources is only 6-8% in India compared to 29% in the reference diet. The imbalance is highest for the households in the lowest decile of consumption expenditure, but even the richest households in India do not consume adequate amounts of fruits, vegetables and non-cereal proteins in their diets. An average Indian household consumes more calories from processed foods than fruits. Conclusions Indian diets, across states and income groups, are unhealthy. Indians also consume excess amounts of cereals and not enough proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Importantly, unlike many countries, excess consumption of animal protein is not a problem in India. Indian policymakers need to accelerate food-system-wide efforts to make healthier and sustainable diets more affordable, accessible and acceptable.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Neha Verma

The paper hypothesizes to examine the ‘Exclusion’ phenomenon for women workers in Indian labour market through gendered occupational segregation and ‘Inclusion’ of women in low productivity and low skilled jobs as a result of adverse incorporation based on stereotypes and discriminatory practices prevalent in the society. The gendered division of work space in Indian economy is evident from the disaggregated study of occupational employment patterns and relative educational qualification of employed men and women. The National Sample Survey (NSS) Employment-Unemployment unit level data (68th Round, 2011-12) is used for the analysis. It is observed that women employment in low productivity jobs is partially a result of their low education level as compared to men workers. However, this is only a part of the answer and the circle of low productivity jobs and low education levels of women is nurtured by the stereotypical foundations of the patriarchal system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 138-155
Author(s):  
Amiya Saha ◽  
Dipti Govil

In 2018, according to the National Sample Survey Report, the number of cases of hospitalization per 1000 persons in 365 days was 29 in India (26 per 1000 in rural and 34 per 1000 in urban areas). Between 2004 and 2014, for example, the average medical expenditure per hospitalization for urban patients increased by about 176%, and for rural patients, it jumped by a little over 160%.  Most of these hospitalizations are for infections, but a significant number also for treatment for cancer and blood-related diseases.  The increase in access to healthcare has also brought with it a massive spike in costs. India is rapidly undergoing an epidemiological transition with a sudden change in the disease profile of its population. This study aimed to analyze hospitalization due to different factors like age and morbidity and its effect on health care utilization from nationally representative data from 2018 among the total population of India.  75th round of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducted in July 2017- June 2018 has been used to examine what are the determinant factors that affect the hospitalization and mean monthly disease-specific expenditure in the different age group populations in India. We have used cross-tabulation to understand the association between morbidity patterns and healthcare utilization with other socio-demographic variables.  A set of logistic regression analyses was carried out to understand the role of age patterns on hospitalization. A log-linear regression model was used to understand the significant predictors of out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE).


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhay Kumar ◽  
Sudheer Kumar Shukla ◽  
Mary Panmei ◽  
Vir Narayan

Right to Education (RTE) Act is intended to provide free and compulsory elementary education to all children aged 6–14 years. This article examines key constituents of elementary education in view of the RTE Act such as current attendance rate, types of institutions, medium of instruction, neighbourhood schools, Monthly per capita expenditure on elementary education (MPCEE)and incentives during pre- and post-RTE period using National Sample Survey Organisation’s 64th (2007–2008) and 71st (2014) round of unit level data. The result shows that far from the universalisation, exclusion is getting entrenched across gender, sector, and socio-religious and economic groups. Female children, children from deprived socio-religious groups, rural areas and from the bottom MPCE quintile have not only fared lower in most of the studied parameters during the pre-RTE period, but the gap from their counterpart has widened immensely during the post-RTE period. Free education has declined and monthly per capita expenditure on elementary education has increased sharply. Children are moving out of the government to private schools. The findings raise serious questions on the intention of the government to fulfil its mandate under RTE.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping He ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
J. M. Ian Salas ◽  
Chao Guo ◽  
Yunfei Cheng ◽  
...  

AbstractThe current measures of cognitive functioning in adulthood do not indicate a long-term association with prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. However, whether such association emerges in China is poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the potential effect of prenatal exposure to the 1959–1961 Chinese famine on adult cognitive impairment. We obtained data from the Second National Sample Survey on Disability implemented in thirty-one provinces in 2006, and restricted our analysis to 387 093 individuals born in 1956–1965. Cognitive impairment was defined as intelligence quotient (IQ) score under 70 and IQ of adults was evaluated by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – China Revision. Famine severity was defined as excess death rate. The famine impact on adult cognitive impairment was estimated by difference-in-difference models, established by examining the variations of famine exposure across birth cohorts. Results show that compared with adults born in 1956–1958, those who were exposed to Chinese famine during gestation (born in 1959–1961) were at greater risk of cognitive impairment in the total sample. Stratified analyses showed that this effect was evident in males and females, but only in rural, not in urban areas. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to famine had an enduring deleterious effect on risk of cognitive impairment in rural adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 237802312090847
Author(s):  
Samuel L. Perry ◽  
Andrew L. Whitehead

Recent studies have found that state-level religious and political conservatism is positively associated with various aggregate indicators of interest in pornography. Such studies have been limited, however, in that they either did not include data measuring actual consumption patterns and/or did not include data on individuals (risking the ecological fallacy). This study overcomes both limitations by incorporating state-level data with individual-level data and a measure of pornography consumption from a large nationally representative survey. Hierarchical linear regression analyses show that, in the main, state-level religious and political characteristics do not predict individual-level pornography consumption, and individual-level religiosity and political conservatism predict less recent pornography consumption. However, interactions between individual-level evangelical identity and state-level political conservatism indicate that evangelicals who live in more politically conservative states report the highest rates of pornography consumption. These findings thus provide more nuanced support for previous research linking religious and political conservatism with greater pornography consumption.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Srinivasan ◽  
V. Raji Sugumar

For the first time, we have a comprehensive database on usage of AYUSH (acronym for Ayurveda, naturopathy and Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) in India at the household level. This article aims at exploring the spread of the traditional medical systems in India and the perceptions of people on the access and effectiveness of these medical systems using this database. The article uses the unit level data purchased from the National Sample Survey Organization, New Delhi. Household is the basic unit of survey and the data are the collective opinion of the household. This survey shows that less than 30% of Indian households use the traditional medical systems. There is also a regional pattern in the usage of particular type of traditional medicine, reflecting the regional aspects of the development of such medical systems. The strong faith in AYUSH is the main reason for its usage; lack of need for AYUSH and lack of awareness about AYUSH are the main reasons for not using it. With regard to source of medicines in the traditional medical systems, home is the main source in the Indian medical system and private sector is the main source in Homeopathy. This shows that there is need for creating awareness and improving access to traditional medical systems in India. By and large, the users of AYUSH are also convinced about the effectiveness of these traditional medicines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radhe Shyam Mishra ◽  
Sanjay K. Mohanty ◽  
Jack Cordes ◽  
Umakanta Sahoo ◽  
Rajeev R. Singh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Disability in India is associated with increasing non-communicable diseases, rising longevity, and increasing accidents and injuries. Though studies have examined prevalence, patterns, and socioeconomic correlates of disability, no attempt has been made in estimating age of onset of disability in India. Objective This paper investigates the economic gradient of age of onset of locomotor, visual, hearing, speech, mental retardation, mental illness, and other disabilities in India. Method We use nationally representative data of 106,894 disabled individuals from the 76th round of National Sample Survey (NSS), 2018. Descriptive statistics, kernel density, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and linear regression models are used in the analysis. Result The disability rate in India was 2184 per 100,000 persons. The disability rate was highest for locomotor (1353) followed by hearing (296), visual (234), speech (228), mental retardation (158), and mental illness (131). Over 85% of mental retardation and 80% of speech disabilities occur at birth, while 82% of locomotor and 81% of visual disabilities occur after birth. Among those who had disability after birth, the median age for mental retardation was 2 years followed by mental illness (28 years), speech (29 years), locomotor (42 years), visual (55 years), and 56 years for hearing disability. Adjusting for socioeconomic covariates, the age of onset of locomotor and speech disabilities among the poorest individuals were 7 and 11 years earlier than the richest, respectively. Conclusion The economic gradient of onset of locomotive and speech disabilities are strong. The age of onset of disability was earliest for mental retardation followed by mental illness and speech disability.


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