Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015-2016

摘要

The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence and examine the determinants of consanguineousmarriage types in India. Data for 456,646 ever-married women aged 15–49 years were analysed fromthe National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 conducted in 2015–16. The overall prevalence of consanguineousmarriage was 9.9%; the South region (23%) and North-East region (3.1%) showed the highest andlowest prevalences, respectively. Muslims had a higher prevalence (15%) than Hindus (9%). The prevalenceof first cousin marriage (8.7%) was more than that of second cousin (0.7%) and of uncle–niece marriages(0.6%). Women living in urban areas and in nuclear families, having a higher level of education andbelonging to affluent families were less likely to marry their cousins (p < 0.01). Women living in theSouth region of the country were more likely to marry their cousins, as well as uncles (p < 0.001).Close scrutiny of the trends in the results (odds ratios) revealed no clear relationship between socioeconomiccondition and consanguineous marriage. The study results suggest that religion and north–southregional dichotomy in culture largely determine consanguineous marriage rather than socioeconomiccondition in India.