Differences In Food Consumption Between The Husband’S Home And Natal Home Among Newly Married Women

Global hunger has been increasing since 2014, with an estimated 821 people around the world currently experiencing chronic food deprivation. The rate of undernourishment is particularly high in South Asia, reaching 14. 8% in 2017 compared to 11% in the world. In Nepal, much of the malnutrition burden is placed on women, with 18% of women being underweight and 41% experiencing anemia in 2016. 2 The consequences of women’s poor nutritional status are inter-generational, affecting not only their own health but also the health of their children.

In South Asia, poor nutritional status among women, especially young women, may be a result of inequitable food distribution within the household. Evidence suggests that households often allocate food unequally, with women receiving fewer quantities and lower quality of food compared to men. Within these households, macro- and micro-nutrient deficiencies resulting from poor quality, low quantity, and insufficient diversity of foods can lead to malnutrition among women. For example, one study found an association between unequal intra-household distribution of food and an increased risk of iron deficiency among women. Additionally, for Nepali households that allocate food unequally, more adult women compared to men did not meet micronutrient requirements for iron, vitamin C, and calcium, suggesting their increased risk of being malnourished. Determinants of inequitable food distribution include economic, socio-cultural, and household factors.

Economic and socio-cultural factors such as income contribution and household position may affect how decision-makers within the household allocate food. Previous research has found a correlation between household members’ economic contributions and food allocation. Qualitative studies highlight how this relationship may be due to beliefs that wage-earners, oftentimes men, deserve more food because they participate in more physically strenuous work. Additionally, evidence suggests a strong association between women’s position in the household and food allocation patterns. In co-residing households in Nepal, low-status women, or youngest daughters-in-law who are often newly married with no children, receive less food and less luxury foods such as meat and dairy. Conversely, men and higher-status women receive more food and higher quality foods. This allocation pattern may be a result of rules concerning eating order, where low-status women serve themselves last, occasionally even after other household members have had a second serving. Furthermore, data show that household factors such as food security, size and structure are associated with the inequitable distribution of food. Most studies have found a correlation between household food insecurity and food distribution bias against women. Young women often receive less food in order for other household members to have enough food during periods of food insecurity or scarcity. Evidence from another study suggests that food allocation bias may be one way that Indo-Nepalese households cope with less available food.

Household size and structure may also be factors in intra-household food allocation, with large, co-residing households more likely to discriminate against women in distributing food. Prior research has shown that discriminatory food allocation patterns are correlated with households that have a greater number of children and higher-status women (e. g. , mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law with more children, daughters-in-law who are older, and daughters-in-law with older husbands). Some research has also suggested a difference in food allocation practices between the husband’s home and the natal home. Specifically, one study found that while women may receive fewer special or luxury foods in their husband’s homes, they might experience less of these food restrictions in their natal homes.

Although prior research has analyzed inequitable intra-household food allocation in the husband’s home, few studies have explored the differences in food allocation practices between the husband’s home and the natal home. In addition, there is little research on how household and socio-economic factors affect the differences in food allocation between these homes, and the resulting differences in food consumption.