At least one in every 10 Women between 15 and 24 years of age in Nadu, around 13%, uses cloth during her period, data from the fifth edition of theNational Family Health Surveyshows.
Although the scores for menstrual hygiene in Tamil Nadu were ahead of the national Average, child rights activists say there is a risk of girls with poor hygiene dropping out of school, besides facing health issues.
The NFHS-5 (2019-21), which considers cloth as one of the hygienic practices, has said that nearly 98% of women age 15-24, use a hygienic method during menstruation. On Thursday, the NGO, Child Rights and You (CRY) said there is a strong positive correlation between menstrual hygiene practices and the Education of girls (Literacy as well as years of schooling) across south India.
In Tamil Nadu, 96.2% of women with 5-7 years of schooling were practising hygienic methods during menstruation. This increased to 98.6% in women who have completed ClassXIIor more years of schooling in TN.