GUWAHATI, Feb 19 - Even as Kamrup Metro district fares better than the State average with regard to institutional births, a large number of children in the district are stunted, underweight and anaemic.
As per findings of the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16), institutional births accounted for 93.3 per cent of the deliveries in Kamrup Metro, as against the all-Assam average of 70.6 per cent.
Institutional births in public facilities accounted for 57 per cent of deliveries in Kamrup Metro, said the findings of the survey.
While better medical facilities in Guwahati and nearby areas has resulted in more institutional births, only two-thirds of women in the district had antenatal check-up in the first trimester.
NFHS-4 data showed that 65.3 per cent mothers had such check-ups in Kamrup Metro, as against a State average of 55.1 per cent.
Similarly, 56.9 per cent mothers in the district had at least four antenatal care visits compared to 46.5 per cent across Assam.
Altogether, 86.3 per cent mothers in Kamrup Metro had their last birth protected against neonatal tetanus, while 28.1 per cent mothers reported having had full antenatal care.
The registered pregnancies for which the mother received Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card stood at over 90 per cent in the district, and 71.8 per cent mothers received postnatal care from a doctor or nurse or LHV or midwife or other health personnel within two days of delivery.
NFHS-4 found that 53.8 per cent women in the age group of 15-49 years in Kamrup Metro district are anaemic and 6.5 per cent have �high� blood sugar level, while another 3.7 per cent reported �very high� blood sugar level.
As many as 10 per cent women in the district have �slightly above normal� hypertension, 1.2 per cent reported �moderately high hypertension� and 1.3 per cent �very high� hypertension.
According to the survey�s findings, 34.5 per cent children in the age group of 6-59 months in Kamrup Metro are anaemic.
As many as 23.2 per cent children under five years of age in Kamrup Metro are underweight and 24.6 per cent are stunted as per standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Immunisation rates were found to be higher in the district as compared to the average for Assam.
In Kamrup Metro, over 72 per cent children in the age group of 12-23 months were fully immunised (with BCG, measles and three doses each of polio and DPT vaccines) compared to 47 per cent in Assam.
While 59.2 per cent of such kids in the district received most of the vaccinations in public health facilities, the remaining 40.8 per cent received them in private facilities.
The reports also said that 58.8 per cent of children under the age of three years in Kamrup Metro were breastfed within one hour of birth.
The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 is the fourth in the NFHS series and provides information on population, health and nutrition.
As in the earlier rounds, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare designated International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, as the nodal agency to conduct NFHS-4.
The main objective of each successive round of the NFHS has been to provide essential data on health and family welfare and emerging issues in this area.
