Number 16, March 2012
briefing paper
Jim Stipe
Enabling and Equipping Women
to Improve Nutrition
by Noreen Mucha, M.P.A.
Key Points
• Gender inequality is linked to higher rates of child mortality and
malnutrition.
• Improvements in women’s access to resources, ability to make independent
decisions, and level of education are critical to better nutrition, both for
young children and the whole family.
• In some societies, girls are far more likely than boys to be stunted by
malnutrition. A combination of efforts to improve agriculture, programs
focused on better nutrition for pregnant women and children younger than
2, and initiatives to empower women as agents of change will help reduce
gender disparities in household food consumption.
• Using a gender perspective—including tools such as gender analysis, gendersensitive strategies and activities, and gender audits—will make programs
aimed at improving nutrition, agriculture, and health more effective.
Noreen Mucha is a nutrition consultant with Bread for the World Institute.
Bread for the World Institute provides policy
analysis on hunger and strategies to end it.
The Institute educates its network, opinion
leaders, policy makers and the public about
hunger in the United States and abroad.
www.bread.org
Abstract
Gender1: the socially constructed
roles, behaviors, activities, and
attributes that a given society
considers appropriate for men
and women
Malnutrition during the 1,000 days
between pregnancy and a child’s second
birthday has irreversible physical,
cognitive, and health consequences,
reducing a person’s lifetime earning
potential. For many countries with high
rates of hunger and malnutrition, the
low status of women2 is a primary cause.
Women often have less education, lower
economic status, and limited decisionmaking power in the household and
community—all of which contribute to
poorer nutrition. The status of women is
a key determinant of maternal and child
feeding practices as well as decisions
about how food is distributed and
consumed within the household. The
end result is higher levels of malnutrition
among women and girls than among
males. Gender roles and inequities are
a critical consideration in planning and
implementing programs to improve
nutrition among pregnant and lactating
women and children younger than 2.