Abstract
The implications of direct nutrition interventions on women's nutrition, birth outcome and stunting rates in children in South Asia are indisputable and well documented. In the last decade, a number of studies present evidence of the role of non‐nutritional factors impacting on women's nutrition, birth outcome, caring practices and nutritional status of children. The implications of various dimensions of women's empowerment and gender inequality on child stunting is being increasingly recognised. Evidence reveals the crucial role of early age of marriage and conception, poor secondary education, domestic violence, inadequate decision‐making power, poor control over resources, strenuous agriculture activities, and increasing employment of women and of interventions such as cash transfer scheme and microfinance programme on undernutrition in children. Analysis of the nutrition situation of women and children in South Asia and programme findings emphasise the significance of reaching women during adolescence, pre‐conception and pregnancy stage. Ensuring women enter pregnancy with adequate height and weight and free from being anemic is crucial. Combining nutrition‐specific interventions with measures for empowerment of women is essential. Improvement in dietary intake and health services of women, prevention of early age marriage and conception, completion of secondary education, enhancement in purchasing power of women, reduction of work drudgery and elimination of domestic violence deserve special attention. A range of programme platforms dealing with health, education and empowerment of women could be strategically used for effectively reaching women prior to and during pregnancy to accelerate reduction in stunting rates in children in South Asia.
Highlights
The implications of direct nutrition interventions on women’s nutrition, birth outcome and stunting rates in children in South Asia are indisputable and well documented
Poor socio-economic status of women affect fetal growth and pregnancy outcome and adversely impacts behavioural practices pertaining to appropriate self and child care, which contribute to low body mass index (BMI) in women and stunting in children
As described later in the paper, adolescence conception as well as inadequate diet and health care hamper optimum height gain resulting in adolescent girls entering adulthood with short stature, poor weight and anaemia with its adverse impact on fetal growth resulting in low birth weights (LBW) and stunting
Summary
Towards reducing stunting in South Asia, programme efforts need to ensure that women enter pregnancy with optimum height, adequate weight and free from anemia. As described later in the paper, adolescence conception as well as inadequate diet and health care hamper optimum height gain resulting in adolescent girls entering adulthood with short stature, poor weight and anaemia with its adverse impact on fetal growth resulting in LBW and stunting This is further supported by a recent report of a prospective study on data pooled from five low middle-income countries, including India, which demonstrated a stronger association of younger maternal age with lower birth weight, preterm birth and stunting by 2 years of age as compared with such an association in the case of women 20–24 years (Fall et al 2015). Intake of iodised salt is reported to be low in two South Asia countries – 20% in Afghanistan and 44% in Maldives (NNS 2011; UNICEF 2014b)
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