Women's Education Can Improve Child Nutrition in India

http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/NFHSbull015.pdf

The National Family Health Survey examined the correlation between mothers' level of education and the nutritional levels of children. While factors such as gender and size of family were suspected to have an impact children's weight and height was closer to the level of education that their mother received. Children who were considered wasted (those with the poorest nutrition level) were often children of women who were illiterate. Women who had some education had children who were far less likely to be qualified as wasted, but who more often fell into the category of under weight. While socioeconomic conditions put these children at risk for nutrition issues, their well being is increased by how much education their mothers are able to receive.

This article is interesting in that the survey sought to seek out a cause beyond poverty for children's poor nutritional levels. It shows that poverty is not the only issue that the Indian government needs to address while attempting to increase the living standards of its community. While searching for this article I stumbled upon several others not directly relating to India that talked about how evaluating the female population of communities offers more insight into the economic and political issues that that community faces. The correlation between womens' education in India and their children's well being supports this idea and suggests further inquiry. It also makes me question what other internal issues affect the greater issue of hunger in India.