A new research project bringing together UK and Indian researchers is to examine the association between the low status of women and high malnutrition of children in India.

The project is led by University of Warwick Economist Professor Wiji Arulampalam, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Professor Wiji Arulampalam says:

“India has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children and the  burden of malnutrition is unevenly borne by the poorer and disadvantaged sections of society. Efforts at reducing the burden of malnutrition would therefore go a long way in ensuring that the fruits of development are more evenly shared, not only across the society but also across generations and hence would greatly reduce social inequalities in the long term.”

Previous studies have shown that a major factor could be  the low status of women and the persistence of gender inequality in these countries. One of the manifestations of the gender inequality is seen in the lack of women's autonomy. The project will use data drawn from the third round of  India’s National Family Health Survey which collected detailed information on 111,781 women and 70,130 men aged 15-54 as well as on 46,655 children born in the last five years preceding the survey. 

The full research team brings together Professor Wiji Arulampalam of the University of Warwick); Anjor Bhaskar  of IFPRI, Delhi, India; and Nisha Srivastava, University of Allahabad, India.

For further information please contact: 

University of Warwick
Professor Wiji Arulampalam
Phone: +44 (0)24 7652 3471
Email: wiji.arulampalam@warwick.ac.uk

Peter Dunn, Head of Communications
Communications Office, University House,
University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 8UW, United Kingdom   
email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 (0)24 76 523708  Mobile/Cell:  +44 (0)7767 655860

Pr71 27th July 2010