Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T14:13:24.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Why are rural Indian women so thin? Findings from a village in Maharashtra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

GP Chorghade ,
M Barker ,
S Kanade  and
CHD Fall
GP Chorghade
Affiliation:
MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
M Barker*
Affiliation:
MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
S Kanade
Affiliation:
KEM Hospital Research Centre, TDH Building-3rd Floor, Rasta Peth, Pune – 411011, Maharashtra, India
CHD Fall
Affiliation:
MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective

To identify social, behavioural and cultural factors that explain the thinness of young women relative to their men in rural Maharashtra, India.

Design

Twelve focus group discussions were conducted to explore the villagers' understanding of why women in their area might be thinner than men.

Setting

Pabal village and surrounding hamlets, in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India.

Subjects

Samples of young mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers were selected from families in the village with children below 10 years of age.

Results

Four factors were identified that the villagers felt contributed to the disparity in thinness. First, marriage isolated girls from their own families and villages, and brought the expectation of early motherhood. Young brides were often unable to relax and eat adequately. Second, marriage increased the workload of young women. They were expected to do the heaviest household chores as well as farm work in this predominantly agricultural community. Third, women had no financial autonomy or freedom of movement, and were therefore denied access to supplementary food sources available to men. Fourth, young women felt responsible for their household's health and success. They were encouraged to fast regularly to ensure this. Despite feeling responsible, young women had no control over factors that might affect the household's well being. This made them anxious and worried a great deal of the time.

Conclusions

Interventions to improve the nutritional status of young women in this region need to recognise the roles and responsibilities taken up by young brides.

Keywords

Maternal healthMaternal nutritionIndiaGender disparity
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 9 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

References

1United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The State of the World's Children 2001 – Early Childhood. New York: UNICEF, 2001.Google Scholar
2Ashworth, A. Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on mortality and morbidity in infants and young children. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1998; 52(Suppl. 1): S34–42.Google ScholarPubMed
3Barker, DJP. Mothers, Babies and Health in Later Life, 2nd ed. London: Churchill Livingstone, 1998.Google Scholar
4Kramer, MS. Determinants of low birth weight: methodological assessment and meta-analysis. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1987; 65(5): 663–737.Google ScholarPubMed
5World Health Organization. Maternal anthropometry and pregnancy outcomes–a WHO collaborative study. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1995; 73(Suppl.).Google Scholar
6Yajnik, CS, Fall, CH, Hirve, SS, Rao, S, Barker, DJ, Joglekar, C, et al. Neonatal anthropometry: the thin–fat Indian baby. The Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2003; 27(2): 173–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Fall, CHD, Yajnik, CS, Rao, S, Coyaji, KJ, Shier, RP. The effects of maternal body composition before birth on fetal growth: the Pune Maternal Nutrition and Fetal Growth Study. In: O'Brien, PMS, Wheeler, T, Barker, DJP, eds. Fetal Programming: Influences on Development and Disease in Later Life. London: RCOG Press, 1999; 231–42.Google Scholar
8Rao, S, Yajnik, CS, Kanade, A, Fall, CHD, Margetts, B, Jackson, AA, et al. Intake of micronutrient-rich foods in rural Indian mothers is associated with the size of their babies at birth: the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131(4): 1217–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Miller, BD. The Endangered Sex: Neglect of Female Children in Rural North India, 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
10Filmer, D, King, EM, Pritchett, L. Gender Disparity in South Asia: Comparisons Between and Within Countries. World Bank World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1867. New York: World Bank, 1998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Sharma, DC. Widespread concern over India's missing girls. Lancet 2003; 362(8): 1553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Ghosh, S. Life cycle of maternal health, child health and survival. In: Puri, RK, Sachdev, HPS, Choudhury, P, Verma, IC, eds. Current Concepts in Pediatrics. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, 1994; 43–58.Google Scholar
13International Institute for Population Sciences. National Family Health Survey. Mumbai: International Institute for Population Sciences, 1995.Google Scholar
14Pandey, A, Sengupta, PG, Mondal, SK, Gupta, DN, Manna, B, Ghosh, S, et al. Gender differences in healthcare-seeking during common illnesses in a rural community of West Bengal, India. Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition 2002; 20(4): 306–11.Google Scholar
15Arnold, F, Choe, MK, Roy, TK. Son preference, the family-building process and child mortality in India. Population Studies 1998; 52: 301–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Pande, RP, Yazbeck, AS. What's in a country's average? Wealth, gender, and regional inequalities in immunization in India. Social Science & Medicine 2003; 57(11): 2075–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Gittelsohn, J. Opening the box: intrahousehold food allocation in rural Nepal. Social Science & Medicine 1991; 33(10): 1141–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Batliwala, S. Rural energy scarcity and nutrition: a new perspective. Economic and Political Weekly 1982; 17(9): 329–33.Google Scholar
19Jejeebhoy, SJ. Women's autonomy in India and Pakistan: the influence of religion and region. Population and Development Review 2001; 27(4): 687–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Millward, L. Focus groups. In: Breakwell, GM, Hammond, S, Fife-Shaw, C, eds. Research Methods in Psychology. London: Sage, 1995; 274–92.Google Scholar
21Miles, MB, Huberman, MA. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Source Book, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 1994.Google Scholar
22Tambiah, SJ. Bride wealth and dowry revisited: the position of women in sub-saharan Africa and North India. Current Anthropology 1989; 30: 413–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Mukhopadhya, A. Girl child in three Indian states. Economic and Political Weekly 1994: (4 06): 1379–82.Google Scholar
24Ramanamma, A, Bambawale, U. The mania for sons: an analysis of social values in South Asia. Social Science & Medicine 1980; 14(2): 107–10.Google ScholarPubMed
25Rao, S, Kanade, A, Margetts, BM, Yajnik, CS, Lubree, H, Rege, S, et al. Maternal activity in relation to birth size in rural India. The Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003; 57(4): 531–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26United Nations (UN). The World's Women: Trends and Statistics. New York: UN Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, 1995.Google Scholar
27Jeffrey, P, Jeffrey, R, Lyon, A. Labour Pains and Labour Power: Women and Childbearing in India, 1st ed. London: Zed Books Ltd, 1989.Google Scholar
28Santow, G. Social roles and physical health: the case of female disadvantage in poor countries. Social Science & Medicine 1995; 40(2): 147–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Das Gupta, M. Life course perspectives on women's autonomy and health outcomes. American Anthropologist 1995; 97(3): 481–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Basu, AM. Cultural influences on health care use: two regional groups in India. Studies in Family Planning 1990; 21(5): 275–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Bloom, S, Wypij, D, Das Gupta, M. Dimensions of women's autonomy and the influence on maternal health care utilization in a north Indian city. Demography 2001 38(1): 67–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32Barua, A, Kurz, K. Reproductive health-seeking by married adolescent girls in Maharashtra, India. Reproductive Health Matters 2001; 9(17): 53–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Harriss, B. The intrafamily distribution of hunger in South Asia. In: Drèze, J, Sen, A, Hussain, A, eds. The Political Economy of Hunger. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995; 224–97.Google Scholar
34World Health Organization (WHO). Multicentre Study on Low Birth Weight and Infant Mortality in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. SEARO Regional Health Paper No. 25. Geneva: WHO, 1994.Google Scholar
35Martorell, R, Ramakrishnan, DG, Schroeder, DG, Melgar, P, Neufeld, L. Intrauterine growth retardation, body size, body composition and physical performance in adolescence. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1998; 52(Suppl. 1): S43–53.Google ScholarPubMed
36McNeill, G, Davidson, L, Morrison, DC, Crombie, IK, Keighran, J, Todman, J. Nutrient intake in schoolchildren: some practical considerations. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 1991; 50(1): 37–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37Retherford, RD, Roy, TK. Factors affecting sex-selective abortion in India. National Family Health Survey Bulletin 2003; 17: 1–4.Google Scholar
38Osrin, D, Mesko, N, Shrestha, BP, Shrestha, D, Tamang, S, Thapa, S, et al. Implementing a community-based participatory intervention to improve essential newborn care in rural Nepal. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2003; 97(1): 18–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39Manandhar, DS, Osrin, D, Shrestha, BP, Mesko, N, Morrison, J, Tumbahangphe, KM, et al. Effect of participatory intervention with women's groups on birth outcomes in Nepal: cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2004; 364(9438): 970–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40Johnson-Welch, C. Explaining nutrition outcomes of food-based interventions through an analysis of women's decision making power. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 2002; 41: 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar