Tobacco consumption dips, alcohol intake remains static: NFHS survey

Number of male and female tobacco consumers has fallen by 10% and 4.4%, respectively, compared to the previous survey done in 2005-06

In the 11 states covered by the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the number of tobacco consumers — men as well as women — has decreased marginally in the past 10 years. However, alcohol consumption has remained almost static in the same period.

The number of male and female tobacco consumers has fallen by 10 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous survey done in 2005-06. However, male alcohol consumers increased by 0.16 per cent, whereas it was a fall of 0.24 per cent for females.

The 11 states surveyed in the first phase of the 2015-16 survey, which were also covered in the 2005-06 survey, are Goa, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal.

Besides these 11 states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also covered in this year’s survey.

According to the survey, the number of households with any member covered by a health scheme or health insurance has gone up massively in the past 10 years — from 6.1 per cent to 29.65 per cent. The alcohol consumption among men increased in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Goa by 5.8 per cent, 5.2 per cent, 16.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, male tobacco consumption dropped in every state.

Among females, alcohol consumption dropped by 3.8 per cent, 0.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Goa, respectively. Apart from Meghalaya, every other state saw a decline in female tobacco consumption. The number of households with members covered by a health scheme or health insurance saw a huge jump of 64 per cent, 49 per cent and 34 per cent in Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Meghalaya, respectively.