Gender-Inclusive Nutrition Activities in South Asia : Mapping Report

Sen, Soham ; Hook, Mikael

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ADEQUATE NUTRITION;    ADOLESCENT FERTILITY;    ADOLESCENT GIRLS;    ADOLESCENT HEALTH;    ADOLESCENT MOTHERS;   

RP-ID  :  71089

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report is the first of a seriesthat will explore how gender can be more comprehensivelyincorporated into nutrition interventions in the South AsiaRegion in order to improve the effectiveness these programs.The first section presents the rationale for consideringgender in nutrition programs in the first place, movingbeyond traditional services for mothers and children. Itdraws from the literature to describe why gender is animportant factor for the high under-nutrition rates in SouthAsia and how a broad range of gender issues, rooted in amother's capacity to care for herself and her child,affect nutritional outcomes of children. The second sectionpresents the results of a mapping of nutrition programs inthe South Asia Region. The mapping primarily finds that,despite its importance, gender is too narrowly addressed inmost interventions. Existing programs typically focus on thefirst two approaches mentioned above: imparting nutritionalknowledge and skills to the caregiver and improving physicalhealth through food or micronutrient supplements and healthservices. The third section identifies several nutrition andhealth projects that have adopted promising approaches toinclude gender more comprehensively. To improve householdsupport for the mother in providing child care, efforts toengage other members of the household such as fathers,grandmothers, and mothers-in-law appear promising. The finalsection concludes by recommending five steps to morecomprehensively address gender in nutrition interventions:(1) begin a dialogue with policymakers inside developmentinstitutions and governments to expand the conversation ongender with regard to nutrition interventions that extendsbeyond mothers and children; (2) collect low hanging fruit:existing development interventions that engage adolescentgirls should include a nutrition component; (3) facilitatethe generation of new ideas to address the programmatic gapsand improve targeting; (4) evaluate promising approaches foreffectiveness, scalability and applicability in differentcultural contexts; and(5) conduct additional research inpreviously overlooked areas and fill gaps in existing data.