Women's nutrition: the key to improving family health in developing countries?

Abstract

The extent and consequences of malnutrition among women in developing countries have received inadequate attention. Conservative estimates suggest that, as of the mid 1980s, 500 million women were anaemic, almost 500 million were stunted as a result of childhood protein-energy malnutrition, about 250 million suffered a range of consequences of severe iodine deficiency, and about 2 million were blind due to Vitamin A deficiency. The human welfare losses associated with women's malnutrition are wide-ranging and severe, including reduced quality of life for women themselves, impaired ability to bear and nurture children, and diminished capacity for domestic and income generating work. In certain parts of the world, most notably in South Asia, an important determinant of malnutrition among women is gender bias against females, both during childhood and adulthood. In addition, throughout the developing world, premature conceptions carry considerable risk to the health and nutritional status of both adolescent girls and their infants. Among adult women, repeated, closely spaced childbearing, inadequate education, lack of access to and control over income, and multiple, excessive demands on their time and physical energy, compound the effects of nutritional deprivations experienced during childhood and adolescence. Given the prevalence, the severity, and the multiple causes of malnutrition among women, it is clear that neither a few narrowly targeted feeding programmes for pregnant and lactating women, nor reliance on the long-term benefits of economic development programmes will be adequate to improve the nutritional status of women in developing countries. Two promising approaches are school-based supplementation programmes for adolescent girls - both to promote catch-up growth during the pubertal growth spurt and to enhance the likelihood of girls remaining in school - and the development and dissemination of technologies and programmes to reduce the extreme demands on adult women's time and energy.