What explains the “Health divide” between Indigenous and Non- Indigenous child Population in India? A Decomposition Analysis

Studies in health sector have revealed socioeconomic inequalities between indigenous and non indigenous population. India is not an exception to this “health divide”, but there is dearth of studies exploring this divide between indigenous and non indigenous child health. The present study aims at decomposing socioeconomic inequalities among underweight, stunting and wasting child population under five years of age using kids file from National Family Health Survey-3 data. The study has used Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition which enables to quantify the part of the health gap due to selected predictors. Children belonging to Schedule Caste/ Schedule Tribe (SC/ST) groups are considered as indigenous and non SC/ST as non indigenous population. Findings demonstrate the health gap among indigenous and non indigenous child population. The selected predictors explained 69%,49% and 62% inequalities among underweight, stunted and wasted children respectively with the highest contribution of poor economic status (52%,49% and 56%) and mother’s illiteracy(25%, 29% and 21%) in the considered indicators. Considering religion as a factor for inequality is not significantly justified by the study. The study prioritizes the need for targeted intervention to enhance economic status and mother’s education to narrow down the health divide.