Singh Bharti, Singh Shri K
Department of Survey Research and Data Analytics, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India.
Front Public Health. 2025 Aug 26;13:1583678. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1583678. eCollection 2025.
India has one of the highest burdens of child undernutrition, globally. Undernutrition is a persistent challenge despite the country's economic growth. Empowering women is essential in addressing child undernutrition since empowered mothers are more inclined to obtain healthcare, enhance dietary diversity, and make informed choices that benefit their children's health outcomes.
The study aims to investigate the relationship between women's empowerment and child undernutrition in India from 2006 to 2021.
This study is based on three recent rounds of the National Family Health Survey. A composite index of women's empowerment has been used to measure women's empowerment. Further, binary logistic regression and decomposition analysis have been used to analyze the association and identify the key determinants that contribute to the reduction of undernutrition among children in India.
Our research offers significant insights into the evolving dynamics of child undernutrition in India, particularly concerning the linkages with women's empowerment. While empowerment was statistically insignificant in NFHS-3, it became a significant driver of child undernutrition in NFHS-4 (-0.12**[-0.21, -0.03]) and NFHS-5 (-0.15***[-0.24, -0.06]). Additionally, birth order, birth weight, and mother's BMI are critical determinants of undernourishment status among children under age five. Wealth remains a consistently significant factor across all three survey rounds. Decomposition analysis further reinforces the significance of women's empowerment, demonstrating that it accounts for a 3.3% reduction in child undernutrition In India.
The study underscores the critical role that empowering woman plays in combating child undernutrition, indicating the need for comprehensive strategies that prioritize women's empowerment alongside other critical determinants to effectively tackle the persistent challenge of child undernutrition in India.
在全球范围内，印度是儿童营养不良负担最重的国家之一。尽管该国经济增长，但营养不良仍是一个持续存在的挑战。增强妇女权能对于解决儿童营养不良问题至关重要，因为获得赋权的母亲更倾向于获得医疗保健、增加饮食多样性并做出有利于子女健康结果的明智选择。
本研究旨在调查2006年至2021年印度妇女赋权与儿童营养不良之间的关系。
本研究基于最近三轮全国家庭健康调查。采用妇女赋权综合指数来衡量妇女赋权情况。此外，使用二元逻辑回归和分解分析来分析这种关联，并确定有助于减少印度儿童营养不良的关键决定因素。
我们的研究为印度儿童营养不良的动态变化提供了重要见解，特别是与妇女赋权的联系。虽然在第三次全国家庭健康调查中赋权在统计上不显著，但在第四次全国家庭健康调查（-0.12**[-0.21, -0.03]）和第五次全国家庭健康调查（-0.15***[-0.24, -0.06]）中，它成为儿童营养不良的一个重要驱动因素。此外，出生顺序、出生体重和母亲的体重指数是五岁以下儿童营养状况的关键决定因素。在所有三轮调查中，财富仍然是一个始终显著的因素。分解分析进一步强化了妇女赋权的重要性，表明它在印度儿童营养不良减少中占3.3%。
该研究强调了增强妇女权能在应对儿童营养不良方面的关键作用，表明需要制定全面战略，在优先考虑妇女赋权的同时兼顾其他关键决定因素，以有效应对印度儿童营养不良这一持续挑战。
