Marriage customs and nutritional status of men and women

Abstract

Malnutrition remains a serious problem. While various nutrition policies exist, these often fail to consider cultural factors. We contribute to the literature on culture and nutrition, focusing on gendered differences in nutritional investment. Using representative panel data from Indonesia covering a period of 21 years, we analyze how ethnicity-based marriage customs are linked to the body mass index (BMI) of men and women. Patrilocal practices are positively associated with male BMI and negatively associated with female BMI, suggesting discrimination against women. Matrilocal practices are positively associated with female BMI when comparing with women in other cultural settings, but not when comparing with men. The practice of bridewealth is positively associated with male and female BMI when comparing to individuals in settings without this cultural practice. Wherever positive associations between marriage customs and BMI are observed, these are largest for those already overweight, whereas the negative association been patrilocality and female BMI is most pronounced among women who are underweight. Our findings suggest that marriage customs may reinforce nutritional inequalities. A better understanding of such links in different cultural settings is important for effective nutritional policies, especially given that different malnutrition problems coexist in many countries.