Association between Maternal Health Status and Birth Weight of Children among Young Mothers of India using Missing Case Analysis

In large-scale sample surveys conducted in developing countries like India, nonresponse bias is a common problem. The present paper deals with missing cases in the National Family Health Survey, Round III due to non-response in the birth weight data where more than 59 per cent of the cases are missing. The study attempts to impute the missing cases by means of single imputation techniques. Once the dataset is complete by method of imputation, it examines the relationship between the probable birth weight of a child, and the health status and health-seeking behaviour of the mother by means of multinomial logit regression. It also aims to assess the various factors related to birth weight of a child, i.e., maternal lifestyle and health status indicators on one hand, and utilisation of healthcare services and health-seeking behaviour on the other. These are believed to have profound influence on the health of a new-born baby.