Total Fertility Rate Increases in Chad; Child Nutrition Improves Slightly

by Carl Haub, senior demographer

The 2010 Chad Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey-4,the third survey since 1996, showed a total fertility rate (TFR, the average number of children per woman) of 6.9. The 2010 TFR was higher than in two previous surveys, going back to the mid-1990s (see figure). The rate of childbearing among young women ages 15 to 19 was especially high at 203 births annually per 1,000 women.

In the 2010 survey, 5 percent of currently married or in-union women said that they were using some form of family planning, with only 1.4 percent using a modern method. Overall, family planning use was twice as high in urban areas than in rural, and the levels were similar to those reported in 2004.

Infant mortality was 106 deaths per 1,000 live births—over 10 percent of infants, and slightly higher than in 2004. Child nutrition levels have been improving. Of children under age 5, 39 percent were stunted (height for age), down from 41percent in 2004; and 30 percent were underweight (weight for age), down from 37 percent in 2004.

Levels of prenatal care and delivery assistance from a skilled provider improved. In the five years before the survey, 53 percent of women had prenatal care from a qualified  provider, up from 43 percent in 2004. Among births in the two years before the survey, 23 percent had qualified personnel at delivery, slightly better than in 2004. However, only 16 percent of births occurred in a public or private health facility,  only a slight improvement over 2004.

Reference

Enquête par grappes à indicateurs multiples, TCHAD 2010, République du Tchad, Ministère du Plan,de l’Economie et de la Coopération Internationale, Institute National de la Statistique, des Études Économiques et Démographiques (INSEED), UNFPA United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

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