Women’s Empowerment and Prevalence of Stunted and Underweight Children in Rural India

Imai, Katsushi S.; Annim, Samuel Kobina; Kulkarni, Veena S.; Gaiha, Raghav

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.05.001

Cited by 119 publications

(124 citation statements)

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“…The influence of the relative bargaining power of women in the household as measured by mother's schooling relative to father's on child nutrition outcomes has been examined by Imai, Annim, Gaiha, and Kulkarni (2014), who find a statistically significant positive influence. Other foci in this literature have included the impact of specific programs such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) on HAZ (Jain, 2015;Kandpal, 2011).…”

Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the literature has focused on modeling mean anthropometric outcomes. However, a small set of studies (Borooah, 2005;Imai et al, 2014;Kandpal & McNamara, 2009) has modeled the entire distribution of an outcome such as HAZ by using quantile regression methods. They all have found evidence of heterogeneous effects of key covariates on different parts of the outcome distribution, highlighting the value of allowing for such flexibility.…”

Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Explaining Cross-State Disparities in Child Nutrition in Rural India

2015

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What drives the large disparities in height-for-age distributions among Indian states -variation in observed nutrition-related endowments, such as wealth or maternal education, or differential strengths of relationships across states between endowments and height-for-age? We explore this question by comparing a set of states with poor nutrition outcomes with the benchmark of Tamil Nadu, a good performer. Applying counterfactual decomposition methods to National Family Health Survey data, we find that surprisingly modest proportions of HAZ differences are attributable to endowment differences. We discuss our results in light of the superior track record of food and nutrition policies in Tamil Nadu.

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Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Cross-State Disparities in Child Nutrition in Rural India

2015

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“…Although inadequate dietary intake and morbidity are immediate causes of undernutrition, studies have shown that household gender inequality relates to high rates of child undernutrition [4, 5]. Women’s empowerment, in terms of control over resources, decision-making and more equitable workloads are all pathways by which nutrition can be improved through agricultural interventions [6, 7]. What are the processes and approaches that can improve gender equity in agrarian, resource-poor settings?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated agriculture programs to address malnutrition in northern Malawi

et al. 2016

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BackgroundIn countries where the majority of undernourished people are smallholder farmers, there has been interest in agricultural interventions to improve nutritional outcomes. Addressing gender inequality, however, is a key mechanism by which agriculture can improve nutrition, since women often play a crucial role in farming, food processing and child care, but have limited decision-making and control over agricultural resources. This study examines the approaches by which gender equity in agrarian, resource-poor settings can be improved using a case study in Malawi.MethodsA quasi-experimental design with qualitative methods was used to examine the effects of a participatory intervention on gender relations. Thirty married couple households in 19 villages with children under the age of 5 years were interviewed before and then after the intervention. An additional 7 interviews were conducted with key informants, and participant observation was carried out before, during the intervention and afterwards in the communities. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and analysed qualitatively for key themes, concepts and contradictions.ResultsSeveral barriers were identified that undermine the quality of child care practices, many linked to gender constructions and norms. The dominant concepts of masculinity created shame and embarrassment if men deviated from these norms, by cooking or caring for their children. The study provided evidence that participatory education supported new masculinities through public performances that encouraged men to take on these new roles. Invoking men’s family responsibilities, encouraging new social norms alongside providing new information about different healthy recipes were all pathways by which men developed new ‘emergent’ masculinities in which they were more involved in cooking and child care. The transformational approach, intergenerational and intra-gendered events, a focus on agriculture and food security, alongside involving male leaders were some of the reasons that respondents named for changed gender norms.ConclusionsParticipatory education that explicitly addresses hegemonic masculinities related to child nutrition, such as women’s roles in child care, can begin to change dominant gender norms. Involving male leaders, participatory methods and integrating agriculture and food security concerns with nutrition appear to be key components in the context of agrarian communities.

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“…7 While we assume that only parental education affects the bargaining power in the model due to the data constraints, other factors, such as, the difference in ages or labour participation of parents could affect the relative bargaining power (e.g. Imai et al 2012). It is possible that the preferences A i may reflect some factors influencing the bargaining, but we have not modelled the interactions explicitly.…”

Section: Concluding Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%