Marie Michael Library

The importance of women's status for child nutrition in developing countries

Smith, Lisa C., et al.

Recently, researchers began to question why malnutrition is more prevalent among South Asian children than in Sub-Saharan Africa, even though South Asia surpasses Sub-Sharan Africa in most of the determinants of child nutrition. This report uses data from developing regions to establish that women's status is an important determinant of children's nutritional status. It finds that the influence of status varies from one region to another. Where women's status is low, this research proves that policies to eradicate gender discrimination not only benefit women but also their children.