Indians with high aspiration from sons ignore daughters’ nutrition
A study of the diets of boys and girls in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana has found that by the age of 15, boys are likely to be eating a wider variety of foods than girls, particularly in families with high aspirations for their children’s education.
The study by the University of Oxford and Imperial College London says adolescent girls are less likely than boys to consume costlier foods that are rich in proteins, vitamins and micronutrients vital for healthy development.
Researchers from Young Lives study interviewed children and their parents in the two states and collected data from samples of about 1,000 older children and 2,000 younger children in 2006, 2009 and 2013 when the subjects were five, eight, 12 and 15 years old.
The children (or their parents) were asked what they had eaten in the past 24 hours. These foods were grouped into seven categories: eggs, milk and dairy, legumes, pulses and nuts, root vegetables, fruit, meat and fish, oil and cereals. The researchers found that at the ages of five, eight and 12, the diets of boys and girls were fairly similar. However, by the age of 15, boys were likely to eat half a food group more than girls of the same age. The study found the gender gap in diet was linked with the parents’ educational aspirations, and not with other factors such as income or the mother’s educational background. The gap was not as strong in families with low academic aspirations for their children.
Study author Elisabetta Aurino, said: “The way food is doled out...may reflect parents’ investment in their children’s education and health...even if parents claim to have high education aspirations for their children, regardless of sex, in practice they are investing more in their teenage sons who are more likely to eat the more nutritional foods.”