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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population by region in India, 2015–16 National Family and Health Survey

From: Prevalence and factors associated with complementary feeding practices among children aged 6–23 months in India: a regional analysis

Characteristic

North (n = 8469)

South (n = 12,828)

East (n = 18,141)

West (n = 8940)

Central (n = 18,664)

North Eastern (n = 2422)

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

Child Characteristics

 Sex of baby

  Male

4571

54.0

6664

52.0

9443

52.1

4680

52.4

9949

53.3

1254

51.8

  Female

3898

46.0

6164

48.1

8698

48.0

4259

47.7

8715

46.7

1168

48.2

 Age of child (months)

  6–11

2945

34.8

4427

34.5

6308

34.8

3215

36.0

6761

36.2

787

32.5

  12–17

2915

34.4

4262

33.2

6082

33.5

2996

33.5

6120

32.8

876

36.2

  18–23

2608

30.8

4139

32.3

5751

31.7

2729

30.5

5782

31.0

760

31.4

 Birth order

  First-born

3246

38.3

5547

43.2

6583

36.3

3702

41.4

6091

32.6

978

40.4

  2nd-4th

4742

56.0

7176

55.9

10,133

55.9

5020

56.2

10,586

56.7

1263

52.2

  5 or more

481

5.7

105

0.8

1425

7.9

217

2.4

1986

10.6

181

7.5

 Perceived Size of baby

  Small

871

10.4

1027

8.0

2339

13.1

1043

11.7

2692

14.6

313

13.7

  Average

6387

76.4

7976

62.5

11,821

66.0

5711

64.2

13,266

71.9

1493

65.5

  Large

1105

13.2

3764

29.5

3742

20.9

2139

24.1

2505

13.6

474

20.8

 Preceeding birth interval

  no previous birth

3270

38.6

5604

43.7

6624

36.5

3718

41.6

6130

32.8

981

40.5

   < 24 months

1379

16.3

1993

15.5

2833

15.6

1305

14.6

3530

18.9

225

9.3

   > 24 months

3820

45.1

5231

40.8

8683

47.9

3916

43.8

9004

48.2

1216

50.2

Maternal Characteristics

 Mother’s age

  15–24 years

231

2.7

569

4.4

1352

7.5

465

5.2

487

2.6

183

7.5

  25–34 years

7763

91.7

11,885

92.7

15,607

86.0

8138

91.0

16,874

90.4

2007

82.8

  35–49 years

475

5.6

373

2.9

1182

6.5

337

3.8

1303

7.0

233

9.6

 Mother’s education

  No education

2406

28.4

1457

11.4

6860

37.8

1183

13.2

6524

35.0

473

19.5

  Primary

1217

14.4

1109

8.6

2669

14.7

1072

12.0

2890

15.5

406

16.8

  Secondary and above

4846

57.2

10,261

80.0

8612

47.5

6685

74.8

9249

49.6

1543

63.7

 Mother’s literacy

  No

5772

68.5

10,873

85.3

10,343

58.0

7268

81.8

11,068

59.6

1818

75.2

  Yes

2650

31.5

1874

14.7

7503

42.0

1617

18.2

7505

40.4

599

24.8

 Employment

  did not work

1361

88.4

2169

87.0

2673

90.0

1491

82.1

2626

86.3

358

89.4

  worked

179

11.6

325

13.0

296

10.0

324

17.9

417

13.7

43

10.6

 Mother’s religion

  Hindu

6320

74.6

10,479

81.7

14,093

77.7

7051

78.9

15,587

83.5

1128

46.6

  Muslim

1300

15.4

1584

12.4

3508

19.3

1269

14.2

2994

16.0

781

32.2

  Christianity and others

849

10.0

764

6.0

540

3.0

620

6.9

83

0.4

514

21.2

 Power over earnings

  Husband

7473

88.2

11,302

88.1

16,290

89.8

7862

87.9

16,670

89.3

2145

88.5

  Woman

996

11.8

1526

11.9

1851

10.2

1077

12.1

1994

10.7

278

11.5

 Power over household purchases

  Husband

7275

85.9

10,908

85

15,817

87.1

7420

83

16,292

87.3

2088

86.2

  Woman

1194

14.1

1919

15

2323

12.8

1519

17

2372

12.7

334

13.8

 Type of Caste or tribe

  Scheduled caste

2147

25.4

2977

23.2

4117

22.7

1448

16.2

4160

22.3

215

8.9

  Scheduled tribe

755

8.9

746

5.8

1904

10.5

1378

15.4

1802

9.7

696

28.7

  other backward class

3160

37.3

7187

56.0

7580

41.8

2707

30.3

9466

50.7

450

18.6

  other1

2407

28.4

1917

15.0

4539

25.0

3406

38.1

3235

17.3

1061

43.8

Family/household characteristics

 Marital status

  Currently married

8421

99.5

12,717

99.2

18,006

99.4

8857

99.2

18,517

99.3

2377

98.3

  Formerly married (divorced/separated/widow)

41

0.5

107

0.8

111

0.6

71

0.8

134

0.7

42

1.7

 Household Wealth Index

  Poorest

876

10.3

562

4.4

8217

45.3

876

9.8

5784

31.0

593

24.5

  Poorer

1296

15.3

1976

15.4

4699

25.9

1612

18.0

4469

23.9

942

38.9

  Middle

1711

20.2

3777

29.4

2769

15.3

2192

24.5

3280

17.6

479

19.8

  Richer

1930

22.8

3900

30.4

1731

9.5

2324

26.0

2720

14.6

281

11.6

  Richest

2656

31.4

2613

20.4

725

4.0

1936

21.7

2411

12.9

127

5.2

 Reads newspaper or magazine

  Not at all

5245

61.9

6246

48.7

14,180

78.2

5081

56.8

13,639

73.1

1784

73.6

  Yes

3224

38.1

6582

51.3

3961

21.8

3859

43.2

5025

26.9

639

26.4

 Listens to radio

  Not at all

7393

87.3

10,955

85.4

15,878

87.5

7775

87.0

16,255

87.1

2077

85.7

  Yes

1075

12.7

1873

14.6

2262

12.5

1165

13.0

2409

12.9

346

14.3

 Watches television

  Not at all

1669

19.7

841

6.6

8786

48.4

1536

17.2

7134

38.2

893

36.9

  Yes

6799

80.3

11,986

93.4

9354

51.6

7403

82.8

11,530

61.8

1530

63.2

Health Service characteristics

 Antenatal clinic visits

  None

961

11.4

806

6.3

4719

26.0

862

9.6

3789

20.3

357

14.8

  1–3

3121

36.9

2038

15.9

6133

33.8

1595

17.8

8848

47.4

870

35.9

  4+

4386

51.8

9983

77.8

7289

40.2

6483

72.5

6026

32.3

1195

49.4

 Place of delivery

  Home

1002

11.8

466

3.6

4734

26.1

715

8.0

4615

24.7

691

28.5

  Health facility

1767

88.2

12,362

96.4

13,407

73.9

8224

92.0

14,049

75.3

1731

71.5

 Type of delivery assistance

  Health professional

6899

81.7

11,477

89.6

11,130

61.9

7031

79.2

10,710

57.7

1694

71.2

  Traditional birth attendants.

598

7.1

274

2.1

2873

16.0

320

3.6

2282

12.3

267

11.2

  Other untrained

946

11.2

1060

8.3

3984

22.2

1525

17.2

5557

30.0

420

17.7

 Mode of delivery

  Vaginal

6976

82.4

7795

60.8

15,472

85.3

7006

78.4

16,708

89.5

2046

84.4

  Caesarean

1492

17.6

5033

39.2

2669

14.7

1934

21.6

1956

10.5

377

15.6

Community level factor

 Residence

  Urban

2881

34.0

5265

41.0

3046

16.8

3869

43.3

4191

22.5

347

14.3

  Rural

5588

66.0

7563

59.0

15,095

83.2

5071

56.7

14,472

77.5

2076

85.7

  1. n = weighted counts
  2. other1 - Includes Jews, Parsis/Zoroastrians, those following “other” religions, and those with no religion