Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016

Gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in India have been a topic of interest for a long time, but little is known on trends or geographic variability in recent periods. We examined the degree to which historic patterns in gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alderman, Harold, Nguyen, Phuong Hong, Tran, Lan Mai, Menon, Purnima
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: John Wiley & Sons 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142787
_version_ 1855525184141787136
author Alderman, Harold
Nguyen, Phuong Hong
Tran, Lan Mai
Menon, Purnima
author_browse Alderman, Harold
Menon, Purnima
Nguyen, Phuong Hong
Tran, Lan Mai
author_facet Alderman, Harold
Nguyen, Phuong Hong
Tran, Lan Mai
Menon, Purnima
author_sort Alderman, Harold
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in India have been a topic of interest for a long time, but little is known on trends or geographic variability in recent periods. We examined the degree to which historic patterns in gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in India have persisted given recent progress in health and nutrition. Using two nationally representative datasets from India between 2006 and 2016, we estimated mortality rates and stunting by gender and by birth order among children under 5 years old. We then tested for differences between boys and girls within each survey round for both national and state levels using bootstrapped standard errors, controlling for cluster and sampling weights. We found striking progress in child mortality and stunting in India between 2006 and 2016 for both boys and girls. Boys were more likely to die than girls during the first year of life. Girls had a higher risk of mortality between age 1 and 5 years than boys in 2006, but the improvements in survival eliminated this gender gap in 2016. For stunting, we found no gender difference in 2006, but girls had higher height‐for‐age Z‐scores (HAZ) and lower stunting than boys in 2016. Trends in gender gaps in mortality and stunting vary substantially by birth order and between states. Our findings indicate that improvements in mortality and nutritional status among girls have started to close gender disparities. efforts to close gaps must stay the course in states that have made progress and be accelerated in states where disparities are still prominent.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace142787
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher John Wiley & Sons
publisherStr John Wiley & Sons
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1427872025-04-03T21:29:22Z Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016 Alderman, Harold Nguyen, Phuong Hong Tran, Lan Mai Menon, Purnima gender gender equality covid-19 boys girls stunting human nutrition mortality equality Gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in India have been a topic of interest for a long time, but little is known on trends or geographic variability in recent periods. We examined the degree to which historic patterns in gender disparities in child undernutrition and mortality in India have persisted given recent progress in health and nutrition. Using two nationally representative datasets from India between 2006 and 2016, we estimated mortality rates and stunting by gender and by birth order among children under 5 years old. We then tested for differences between boys and girls within each survey round for both national and state levels using bootstrapped standard errors, controlling for cluster and sampling weights. We found striking progress in child mortality and stunting in India between 2006 and 2016 for both boys and girls. Boys were more likely to die than girls during the first year of life. Girls had a higher risk of mortality between age 1 and 5 years than boys in 2006, but the improvements in survival eliminated this gender gap in 2016. For stunting, we found no gender difference in 2006, but girls had higher height‐for‐age Z‐scores (HAZ) and lower stunting than boys in 2016. Trends in gender gaps in mortality and stunting vary substantially by birth order and between states. Our findings indicate that improvements in mortality and nutritional status among girls have started to close gender disparities. efforts to close gaps must stay the course in states that have made progress and be accelerated in states where disparities are still prominent. 2021-07-01 2024-05-22T12:11:04Z 2024-05-22T12:11:04Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142787 en Open Access John Wiley & Sons Alderman, Harold; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Tran, Lan Mai; and Menon, Purnima. 2021. Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016. Maternal and Child Nutrition 17(3): e13179. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13179
spellingShingle gender
gender equality
covid-19
boys
girls
stunting
human nutrition
mortality
equality
Alderman, Harold
Nguyen, Phuong Hong
Tran, Lan Mai
Menon, Purnima
Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title_full Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title_fullStr Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title_full_unstemmed Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title_short Trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in India, 2006–2016
title_sort trends and geographic variability in gender inequalities in child mortality and stunting in india 2006 2016
topic gender
gender equality
covid-19
boys
girls
stunting
human nutrition
mortality
equality
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142787
work_keys_str_mv AT aldermanharold trendsandgeographicvariabilityingenderinequalitiesinchildmortalityandstuntinginindia20062016
AT nguyenphuonghong trendsandgeographicvariabilityingenderinequalitiesinchildmortalityandstuntinginindia20062016
AT tranlanmai trendsandgeographicvariabilityingenderinequalitiesinchildmortalityandstuntinginindia20062016
AT menonpurnima trendsandgeographicvariabilityingenderinequalitiesinchildmortalityandstuntinginindia20062016