Skip to main content

Table 1 Distribution of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics for religion-social group subgroups for Hindu-Muslim children by waves of National Family Health Surveys in India

From: When social identities intersect: understanding inequities in growth outcomes by religion- caste and religion-tribe as intersecting strata of social hierarchy for Muslim and Hindu children in India

 

NFHS 1

 

Hindu ( n  = 37,231)

Muslim ( n  = 6594)

Variable

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

N

27,467

NA

5903

3861

6351

NA

201

42

A) NFHS 1a

 Age of child (mean (SD))

1.46 (1.12)

NA

1.45 (1.14)

1.49 (1.14)

1.47 (1.12)

NA

1.48 (1.17)

1.44 (1.08)

 Missing

2048 (7.5%)

NA

571 (9.7%)

365 (9.5%)

448 (7.1%)

NA

20 (10.0%)

3 (7.1%)

Sex of Child = male (%)

 Male

14,123 (51.4%)

NA

3061 (51.9%)

1986 (51.4%)

3214 (50.6%)

NA

108 (53.7%)

25 (59.5%)

 Female

13,344 (48.6%)

NA

2842 (48.1%)

1875 (48.6%)

3137 (49.4%)

NA

93 (46.3%)

17 (40.5%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s Education (%)

 No education

15,039 (54.8%)

NA

4614 (78.2%)

3348 (86.7%)

4132 (65.1%)

NA

168 (83.6%)

37 (88.1%)

 Primary

4491 (16.4%)

NA

687 (11.6%)

274 (7.1%)

1120 (17.6%)

NA

17 (8.5%)

2 (4.8%)

 Secondary

6499 (23.7%)

NA

554 (9.4%)

216 (5.6%)

993 (15.6%)

NA

16 (8.0%)

3 (7.1%)

 Higher

1354 (4.9%)

NA

33 (0.6%)

11 (0.3%)

67 (1.1%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 Missing

84 (0.3%)

NA

15 (0.3%)

12 (0.3%)

39 (0.6%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Wealth quintile (%)

 Poorest

4718 (17.2%)

NA

1352 (22.9%)

1647 (42.7%)

1008 (15.9%)

NA

33 (16.4%)

6 (14.3%)

 Poorer

4871 (17.7%)

NA

1369 (23.2%)

981 (25.4%)

1342 (21.1%)

NA

43 (21.4%)

11 (26.2%)

 Middle

5494 (20.0%)

NA

1306 (22.1%)

756 (19.6%)

1244 (19.6%)

NA

44 (21.9%)

11 (26.2%)

 Richer

6270 (22.8%)

NA

1336 (22.6%)

337 (8.7%)

1499 (23.6%)

NA

40 (19.9%)

11 (26.2%)

 Richest

6114 (22.3%)

NA

540 (9.1%)

140 (3.6%)

1258 (19.8%)

NA

41 (20.4%)

3 (7.1%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother's height (mean (SD))

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

 Missing

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

Urban/ Rural (%)

 Urban

7846 (28.6%)

NA

1226 (20.8%)

331 (8.6%)

2285 (36.0%)

NA

48 (23.9%)

4 (9.5%)

 Rural

19,621 (71.4%)

NA

4677 (79.2%)

3530 (91.4%)

4066 (64.0%)

NA

153 (76.1%)

38 (90.5%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

NA

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 

NFHS 2

 

Hindu ( n  = 24,551)

Muslim ( n  = 4824)

Variable

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

n

8304

7987

5562

2698

3614

1041

119

50

B) NFHS 2

 Age of child (mean (SD))

0.98 (0.82)

0.97 (0.82)

0.98 (0.81)

0.96 (0.82)

0.99 (0.82)

1.02 (0.82)

0.87 (0.8)

1 (0.85)

 Missing

449 (5.4%)

541 (6.8%)

403 (7.2%)

213 (7.9%)

186 (5.1%)

56 (5.4%)

9 (7.6%)

3 (6.0%)

Sex of Child = male (%)

 Male

4399 (53.0%)

4132 (51.7%)

2940 (52.9%)

1363 (50.5%)

1875 (51.9%)

536 (51.5%)

62 (52.1%)

28 (56.0%)

 Female

3905 (47.0%)

3855 (48.3%)

2622 (47.1%)

1335 (49.5%)

1739 (48.1%)

505 (48.5%)

57 (47.9%)

22 (44.0%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s Education (%)

 No education

2909 (35.0%)

4333 (54.3%)

3621 (65.1%)

2088 (77.4%)

2079 (57.5%)

606 (58.2%)

81 (68.1%)

34 (68.0%)

 Primary

1350 (16.3%)

1253 (15.7%)

835 (15.0%)

277 (10.3%)

629 (17.4%)

184 (17.7%)

23 (19.3%)

7 (14.0%)

 Secondary

2653 (31.9%)

1867 (23.4%)

926 (16.6%)

274 (10.2%)

717 (19.8%)

207 (19.9%)

13 (10.9%)

8 (16.0%)

 Higher

1390 (16.7%)

532 (6.7%)

179 (3.2%)

58 (2.1%)

187 (5.2%)

44 (4.2%)

2 (1.7%)

1 (2.0%)

 Missing

2 (0.0%)

2 (0.0%)

1 (0.0%)

1 (0.0%)

2 (0.1%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Wealth quintile (%)

 Poorest

885 (10.7%)

1629 (20.4%)

1585 (28.5%)

1126 (41.7%)

567 (15.7%)

171 (16.4%)

33 (27.7%)

19 (38.0%)

 Poorer

1228 (14.8%)

1772 (22.2%)

1332 (23.9%)

770 (28.5%)

619 (17.1%)

174 (16.7%)

34 (28.6%)

15 (30.0%)

 Middle

1590 (19.1%)

1825 (22.8%)

1131 (20.3%)

472 (17.5%)

748 (20.7%)

248 (23.8%)

23 (19.3%)

3 (6.0%)

 Richer

2100 (25.3%)

1655 (20.7%)

979 (17.6%)

224 (8.3%)

1027 (28.4%)

249 (23.9%)

19 (16.0%)

6 (12.0%)

 Richest

2501 (30.1%)

1106 (13.8%)

535 (9.6%)

106 (3.9%)

653 (18.1%)

199 (19.1%)

10 (8.4%)

7 (14.0%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s height (mean (SD))

151.88 (7.17)

151.19 (6.36)

150.31 (6.72)

150.94 (6.39)

151.8 (5.7)

151.42 (5.77)

149.79 (4.55)

151.43 (5.86)

Missing

769 (9.3%)

536 (6.7%)

411 (7.4%)

145 (5.4%)

427 (11.8%)

97 (9.3%)

14 (11.8%)

4 (8.0%)

Urban/ Rural (%)

 Urban

2662 (32.1%)

1716 (21.5%)

1219 (21.9%)

249 (9.2%)

1291 (35.7%)

364 (35.0%)

28 (23.5%)

13 (26.0%)

 Rural

5642 (67.9%)

6271 (78.5%)

4343 (78.1%)

2449 (90.8%)

2323 (64.3%)

677 (65.0%)

91 (76.5%)

37 (74.0%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 

NFHS 4

 

Hindus ( n  = 187,573)

Muslim ( n  = 40,950)

Variable

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

N

34,082

81,525

44,258

27,708

19,260

18,316

1338

2036

C) NFHS 4

 Age of child (mean (SD))

2.03 (1.41)

2.02 (1.41)

2.01 (1.41)

2 (1.42)

2.02 (1.39)

2 (1.41)

2.02 (1.41)

2.01 (1.41)

 Missing

1222 (3.6%)

3796 (4.7%)

2341 (5.3%)

1502 (5.4%)

852 (4.4%)

928 (5.1%)

80 (6.0%)

86 (4.2%)

Sex of Child = male (%)

 Male

18,087 (53.1%)

42,955 (52.7%)

22,892 (51.7%)

14,166 (51.1%)

9976 (51.8%)

9459 (51.6%)

676 (50.5%)

1060 (52.1%)

 Female

15,995 (46.9%)

38,570 (47.3%)

21,366 (48.3%)

13,542 (48.9%)

9284 (48.2%)

8857 (48.4%)

662 (49.5%)

976 (47.9%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s Education (%)

 No education

4479 (13.1%)

24,310 (29.8%)

16,133 (36.5%)

13,093 (47.3%)

7048 (36.6%)

8350 (45.6%)

698 (52.2%)

835 (41.0%)

 Primary

3555 (10.4%)

10,961 (13.4%)

7247 (16.4%)

4575 (16.5%)

2833 (14.7%)

2997 (16.4%)

229 (17.1%)

180 (8.8%)

 Secondary

18,969 (55.7%)

37,905 (46.5%)

18,103 (40.9%)

9155 (33.0%)

8390 (43.6%)

6089 (33.2%)

387 (28.9%)

881 (43.3%)

 Higher

7079 (20.8%)

8349 (10.2%)

2775 (6.3%)

885 (3.2%)

989 (5.1%)

880 (4.8%)

24 (1.8%)

140 (6.9%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Wealth quintile (%)

 Poorest

3363 (9.9%)

20,398 (25.0%)

14,827 (33.5%)

15,277 (55.1%)

4208 (21.8%)

3901 (21.3%)

471 (35.2%)

508 (25.0%)

 Poorer

5743 (16.9%)

19,207 (23.6%)

11,458 (25.9%)

6876 (24.8%)

5272 (27.4%)

3927 (21.4%)

319 (23.8%)

608 (29.9%)

 Middle

7518 (22.1%)

16,987 (20.8%)

8692 (19.6%)

3283 (11.8%)

3975 (20.6%)

3620 (19.8%)

260 (19.4%)

334 (16.4%)

 Richer

7892 (23.2%)

14,443 (17.7%)

5849 (13.2%)

1513 (5.5%)

3361 (17.5%)

3999 (21.8%)

205 (15.3%)

348 (17.1%)

 Richest

9566 (28.1%)

10,490 (12.9%)

3432 (7.8%)

759 (2.7%)

2444 (12.7%)

2869 (15.7%)

83 (6.2%)

238 (11.7%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s height (mean (SD))

152.84 (6.04)

151.56 (6.14)

150.74 (6.04)

151.02 (5.76)

152.58 (6.34)

152.04 (5.99)

151.83 (5.95)

154.01 (6.12)

Missing

585 (1.7%)

833 (1.0%)

434 (1.0%)

276 (1.0%)

288 (1.5%)

222 (1.2%)

35 (2.6%)

19 (0.9%)

Urban/ Rural (%)

 Urban

10,917 (32.0%)

17,957 (22.0%)

9107 (20.6%)

2353 (8.5%)

5493 (28.5%)

7666 (41.9%)

383 (28.6%)

497 (24.4%)

 Rural

23,165 (68.0%)

63,568 (78.0%)

35,151 (79.4%)

25,355 (91.5%)

13,767 (71.5%)

10,650 (58.1%)

955 (71.4%)

1539 (75.6%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 

NFHS 3

 

Hindu ( n  = 35,499)

Muslim ( n  = 8595)

Variable

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

N

10,453

13,288

8226

3532

5183

2994

253

165

D) NFHS 3

 Age of child (mean (SD))

2.02 (1.41)

2.03 (1.42)

2.02 (1.41)

2.01 (1.43)

2.02 (1.41)

2.06 (1.41)

1.9 (1.38)

1.9 (1.42)

 Missing

460 (4.4%)

770 (5.8%)

567 (6.9%)

266 (7.5%)

273 (5.3%)

154 (5.1%)

19 (7.5%)

5 (3.0%)

Sex of Child = male (%)

 Male

5543 (53.0%)

6948 (52.3%)

4201 (51.1%)

1845 (52.2%)

2690 (51.9%)

1536 (51.3%)

133 (52.6%)

77 (46.7%)

 Female

4910 (47.0%)

6340 (47.7%)

4025 (48.9%)

1687 (47.8%)

2493 (48.1%)

1458 (48.7%)

120 (47.4%)

88 (53.3%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s Education (%)

 No education

2126 (20.3%)

5788 (43.6%)

4262 (51.8%)

2398 (67.9%)

2323 (44.8%)

1798 (60.1%)

160 (63.2%)

117 (70.9%)

 Primary

1255 (12.0%)

1962 (14.8%)

1300 (15.8%)

428 (12.1%)

810 (15.6%)

383 (12.8%)

32 (12.6%)

12 (7.3%)

 Secondary

5146 (49.2%)

4734 (35.6%)

2417 (29.4%)

661 (18.7%)

1836 (35.4%)

746 (24.9%)

59 (23.3%)

36 (21.8%)

 Higher

1925 (18.4%)

804 (6.1%)

247 (3.0%)

45 (1.3%)

214 (4.1%)

67 (2.2%)

2 (0.8%)

0 (0.0%)

 Missing

1 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Wealth quintile (%)

 Poorest

647 (6.2%)

2445 (18.4%)

2077 (25.2%)

1844 (52.2%)

837 (16.1%)

489 (16.3%)

53 (20.9%)

30 (18.2%)

 Poorer

1133 (10.8%)

2845 (21.4%)

1900 (23.1%)

746 (21.1%)

912 (17.6%)

525 (17.5%)

43 (17.0%)

58 (35.2%)

 Middle

1950 (18.7%)

2861 (21.5%)

1746 (21.2%)

471 (13.3%)

1068 (20.6%)

711 (23.7%)

62 (24.5%)

34 (20.6%)

 Richer

2612 (25.0%)

2799 (21.1%)

1619 (19.7%)

300 (8.5%)

1263 (24.4%)

817 (27.3%)

65 (25.7%)

36 (21.8%)

 Richest

4111 (39.3%)

2338 (17.6%)

884 (10.7%)

171 (4.8%)

1103 (21.3%)

452 (15.1%)

30 (11.9%)

7 (4.2%)

Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s height (mean (SD))

152.76 (6)

151.66 (5.83)

150.88 (5.64)

151.36 (5.73)

152.28 (5.78)

152.07 (5.73)

151.21 (6.05)

154.7 (5.73)

Missing

480 (4.6%)

445 (3.3%)

357 (4.3%)

116 (3.3%)

332 (6.4%)

219 (7.3%)

13 (5.1%)

2 (1.2%)

Urban/ Rural (%)

 Urban

5049 (48.3%)

4413 (33.2%)

2848 (34.6%)

542 (15.3%)

2448 (47.2%)

1545 (51.6%)

124 (49.0%)

16 (9.7%)

 Rural

5404 (51.7%)

8875 (66.8%)

5378 (65.4%)

2990 (84.7%)

2735 (52.8%)

1449 (48.4%)

129 (51.0%)

149 (90.3%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 

NFHS 5

 

Hindu ( n  = 171,055)

Muslim ( n  = 33,522)

Variable

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other

Other Backward Class

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

N

29,167

73,351

42,938

25,599

16,651

14,293

1256

1322

E) NFHS 5

 Age of child (mean (SD))

2.05 (1.42)

2.02 (1.43)

2 (1.43)

2 (1.43)

2.06 (1.42)

2.01 (1.43)

2.05 (1.42)

2.09 (1.42)

 Missing

841 (2.9%)

2765 (3.8%)

1959 (4.6%)

1171 (4.6%)

537 (3.2%)

515 (3.6%)

33 (2.6%)

40 (3.0%)

Sex of Child = male (%)

 Male

15,382 (52.7%)

38,246 (52.1%)

22,256 (51.8%)

13,105 (51.2%)

8529 (51.2%)

7390 (51.7%)

640 (51.0%)

655 (49.5%)

 Female

13,785 (47.3%)

35,105 (47.9%)

20,682 (48.2%)

12,494 (48.8%)

8122 (48.8%)

6903 (48.3%)

616 (49.0%)

667 (50.5%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother’s Education (%)

 No education

2688 (9.2%)

14,274 (19.5%)

10,933 (25.5%)

9013 (35.2%)

4102 (24.6%)

4726 (33.1%)

504 (40.1%)

389 (29.4%)

 Primary

2445 (8.4%)

8074 (11.0%)

6227 (14.5%)

3801 (14.8%)

2430 (14.6%)

2051 (14.3%)

190 (15.1%)

137 (10.4%)

 Secondary

16,146 (55.4%)

38,923 (53.1%)

21,358 (49.7%)

11,380 (44.5%)

8856 (53.2%)

6244 (43.7%)

518 (41.2%)

672 (50.8%)

 Higher

7888 (27.0%)

12,080 (16.5%)

4420 (10.3%)

1405 (5.5%)

1263 (7.6%)

1272 (8.9%)

44 (3.5%)

124 (9.4%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Wealth quintile (%)

 Poorest

3057 (10.5%)

16,087 (21.9%)

13,605 (31.7%)

13,847 (54.1%)

4628 (27.8%)

2626 (18.4%)

391 (31.1%)

376 (28.4%)

 Poorer

4983 (17.1%)

17,465 (23.8%)

11,143 (26.0%)

6278 (24.5%)

3966 (23.8%)

2908 (20.3%)

342 (27.2%)

300 (22.7%)

 Middle

5717 (19.6%)

16,181 (22.1%)

8460 (19.7%)

3223 (12.6%)

3144 (18.9%)

2922 (20.4%)

202 (16.1%)

245 (18.5%)

 Richer

6811 (23.4%)

14,242 (19.4%)

6044 (14.1%)

1573 (6.1%)

2810 (16.9%)

3259 (22.8%)

208 (16.6%)

266 (20.1%)

 Richest

8599 (29.5%)

9376 (12.8%)

3686 (8.6%)

678 (2.6%)

2103 (12.6%)

2578 (18.0%)

113 (9.0%)

135 (10.2%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

Mother's height (mean (SD))

153.07 (6.37)

151.78 (6.35)

150.85 (6.23)

151.25 (5.95)

152.54 (6.6)

152.64 (6.27)

151.95 (7.39)

154.09 (7.41)

 Missing

855 (2.9%)

1776 (2.4%)

1025 (2.4%)

461 (1.8%)

529 (3.2%)

722 (5.1%)

62 (4.9%)

22 (1.7%)

Urban/ Rural (%)

 Urban

8690 (29.8%)

14,100 (19.2%)

7874 (18.3%)

1934 (7.6%)

4196 (25.2%)

4954 (34.7%)

324 (25.8%)

311 (23.5%)

 Rural

20,477 (70.2%)

59,251 (80.8%)

35,064 (81.7%)

23,665 (92.4%)

12,455 (74.8%)

9339 (65.3%)

932 (74.2%)

1011 (76.5%)

 Missing

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

  1. aOther Backward Class was not legally recognized as a deprived community at the time of data collection