Sex differentials in undernutrition: A look at survey evidence

This note seeks indirect evidence regarding possible sex biases in food intake for adults and children, through large-scale survey findings for anthropometric indicators. Among adults, excess female undernutrition is a serious problem in view of the large populations concerned (rural China, India), but data are still needed to assess the situation in many countries. Regarding preschool children, the anti-female biases once noted for China, India, and other countries seem to have disappeared. Where differences exist, boys fare worse than girls (probably because girls, given a less than adequate food supply, tend to cope with it better than boys). Anti-female discriminatory practices either are limited in magnitude or apply in groups that are too few or too small to be detectable in large populations.