An Empirical Analysis of Socio-economic Correlates of Anemia among Pregnant Women in Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

Anaemia among women of reproductive age remains a major public health concern due to its adverse effects on maternal health, pregnancy outcomes, work productivity, and overall quality of life. Despite various nutritional and health interventions, the prevalence of anaemia continues to remain high in developing regions, particularly in South Asia, indicating the need for focused research and policy attention.An empirical analysis of anaemia among the pregnant women in Jammu and Kashmir was made from the data set of the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) and different correlates associated with anaemia among the pregnant women were estimated. Result analysis shows that severe anaemia was found among the pregnant and its highest prevalence was witnessed in the older age groups of 40–44 years, while the prevalence of moderate anaemia was highest in the age group of 25–29 years. Therefore it was found that with the increasing age of the pregnant woman she has more chance of becoming anaemic, but improvement in the socio-economic status of pregnant women had proved to be successful in reducing the anaemia among them. The educational level and status of the job quality of pregnant women in Jammu and Kashmir have significantly impacted the anaemic level, and more than three-fourth of the non-working pregnant women were found to be either severely or moderately anaemic, and more than three-fourth of the illiterate were severely anaemic. An empirical analysis of the pregnancy histories of women had been conducted, and it was found that the prevalence of the highest anaemia level among the pregnant women was during the 2nd trimester of their pregnancy, and during the 2nd trimester, the prevalence of severe anaemia was about 53 percent, while the prevalence of moderate anaemia was 60 percent. With the increasing number of ANC visits; a pregnant women had less chance of becoming severely anaemic and also delay in the 1st ANC visit increases has more chance of becoming anaemic. Furthermore, it was found that less than three-fourths of severely anaemic pregnant women had visited for their first antenatal check-up during the first trimester, while in cases of moderately anaemic and mild anaemic pregnant women, 89 percent of pregnant women had completed their first ANC visit during the first trimester.