Final Post

Before mentioning our results, it is important to emphasize one thing: malnutrition matters because it is an effect and cause of poverty. The short-term impact on children is overwhelming: 56% of infant mortality in India is caused by malnutrition. Unfortunately, for the children who survived malnutrition, the long-term impact of undernourishment -lower human capital- will reinforce their poverty cycle by diminishing their future earnings.  

Once we recognized the importance of malnutrition, our results become scarier: one third of the mothers -in our sample- are malnourished, with half of those being severely underweight. Furthermore, on average, 70.6% of the children under six years old are stunted and half of those are severely stunted. If that wasn't enough, 35.9% of the children are severe wasted (weight for height).

Several insights we discovered help explain this crisis: illiteracy, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, and being employed in daily labor are related to malnutrition in mothers. For children, on the other hand, many factors worsen nutrition indicators: 1) most children are already stunted at birth; 2) children that are breastfed after their first six months eat solid food fewer times per day, compared to those that are not breastfeeding; and 3) having a young or underweight mother makes a child more likely to be stunted and wasted.

Given these facts what can PRADAN do to improve the situation? Although there is no one single universal solution, three things that are important should be included: 1) promote increased energy intake, especially in girls; 2) emphasize the importance of mothers’ nutrition; and 3) promote health and hygiene practices. 

In addition to these recommendations, one thing should be recognized: it is better to develop local solutions that can be sustained over time. Otherwise, as we have witnessed in the past, improvements will not be permanent. Furthermore, as mentioned in the previous post, women must be at the center of all the efforts. If women stay held back one thing will happen for sure: all efforts will fail.  

Finally, I want -again- to give special thanks to Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) and to supporters of the Cultural Bridge fellowship for providing me the grant that made my summer trip possible. I am convinced that their support will help PRADAN develop new policies that will improve the lives of women. That's why we need to keep fighting; closing the gender gap in economic participation, political opportunity, health, and education is not only possible but also necessary. We need to insist: #NoWomanHeldBack.