Why Women and Children Are
Disproportionately Affected by Malnutrition
Virginia Lamprecht/Photoshare
Gender roles are socially constructed: the behaviors,
activities, and attributes considered appropriate for men
and women are specific to a given society. Answering the
question of why women are more likely than men to be
malnourished requires a gender analysis—a systematic look
at the differences between women and men in material
welfare and in status. In most countries, gender inequality is
embedded in laws, rules, and social norms.
The nutritional status of women and children is a good
indicator of the overall well-being of a society. It reflects not
only maternal and child care practices, but also household
food security, health, and environmental conditions.3 The
three most frequently used indicators of child nutritional
status are stunting (the child has low height for her age),
underweight (low weight for her age), and wasting (low
weight for her height).
Women who have been to school and have a way to earn income are far less
likely to be malnourished or have malnourished children.
Females—particularly women of reproductive age,
pregnant women, and new mothers along with their
babies—are disproportionately affected by malnutrition.
The nutritional status of newborns and infants is closely
linked to the health status of their mothers before, during,
and after pregnancy. In communities where women have
weaker health and nutritional status than men, babies are
2 Briefing Paper, March 2012
often born at low birth weights to mothers less able to care
for them. Gender inequality is also associated with high rates
of stunting and wasting, high child and maternal mortality,
and overall worse general health in a population. A study of
undernutrition and gender in 56 African countries reveals a
strong connection between high levels of undernutrition in
adult women and high levels of undernutrition in children.4
Analysis by the international relief and development
organization Save the Children5 has shown that the lower
a country’s gender inequality, the lower its rate of under-5
mortality. This suggests that the benefits of women’s
empowerment extend to their children. Malnutrition is
the single largest cause of child mortality—responsible for
an estimated 35 percent6,7 of child deaths—and a major
contributor to high rates of maternal anemia (a blood
condition that can result from iron deficiency) and maternal
mortality.8 In Figure 1 on page 3, a comparison between
country data collected from the Human Development Index9
on the population under age 5 suffering from stunting, and
the countries’ scores on an index of gender inequality,10
demonstrates that greater gender inequality (higher numbers
on the index) tracks closely with higher stunting rates.
Women in developing countries face additional
challenges—including frequent illness, lack of access to
health care, low education levels, and high poverty levels.
Poor female nutrition early in life reduces learning potential,
increases reproductive and maternal health risks, and lowers
productivity. All of this limits accumulation of assets (e.g.,
money, land, animals). There is significant evidence11,12,13
that a mother’s educational status directly influences her
children’s nutritional and health status.
Undernutrition impairs a woman’s potential to contribute
to economic growth since it lowers her productivity and ability
to engage in income-generating activities. It also increases
the risk of disease. Especially vulnerable populations include
female-headed households, widows, female farmers, and
female pastoralists.
Women often lack access to sufficient healthy food and
eat smaller portion sizes due to cultural practices within
the household. Women’s heavy workloads and domestic
responsibilities also make them vulnerable to malnutrition.
When food is in short supply, one coping strategy may be
for women and girls to eat less so there is more for men and
boys. Not only do women and girls have less access to food,
but they also often eat poorer quality, unhealthy, and even
unsafe foods. In addition, inadequate access to safe drinking
water and poor sanitation put women and their children at
increased risk of illness, malnutrition, and death.14
Thus, in many developing countries, there are genderrelated household nutrition disparities. For example, among
children living in an urban slum in Pakistan,15 girls were
nearly three times more likely to be stunted than boys. Power