Sex Differences in Child Health in More Developed and Less Developed States in India--Analysis of NFHS-2 (1998-99) Data

Sumati Kulkarni, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Nizamuddin Khan, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

This paper examines sex differentials in child health in various states of India, which are at different stages of development and demographic transition by analyzing NFHS-2 data for India. Relationship between mother's background characteristics (education, standard of living etc.) and sex differentials in child health is examined on the basis of data regarding women from three more development low fertility states (12,032 women from Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra) and three less developed high fertility states (23,129 women from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan). Data on children pertains to two most recent births to these women during the three years preceding the survey (10,076 children).