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What Does Gender Dimorphism in Stature Tell Us About Discrimination in Rural India, 1930-1975?

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posted on 2023-06-07, 22:19 authored by Aravinda Meera Guntupalli, Alexander Moradi
In the debate on gender discrimination in India a frequently used measure is sex ratio. We propose a new indicator: dimorphism in the nutritional and health status approximated by mean stature which reflects the burden of workload, and differential access to food and health, that surviving boys and girls have faced during their period of growth. The analysis is based on the nutrition surveys carried out by the National Nutrition Monitoring Board (NNMB), which is a rare source of comprehensive height data for both males and females. After controlling for biases due to changes in sampling design, we assess the development of dimorphism in stature for seven Indian states in the period 1930-1975. The secular trends in gender dimorphism vary greatly from state to state. Finally, we explore the impact of several economic variables like agricultural output, poverty, real wages, development expenditures and the impact of monsoon rainfall on height dimorphism. The regression analysis confirms that gender discrimination is increasing with poverty. The decreasing effect of real wages, state development expenditures and food supply are the new insights.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Page range

258-277

Book title

Gender Dimorphism: Discrimination in Rural India, 1930-1975

Department affiliated with

  • Economics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Editors

Bholanath Ghosh, Premananda Bharati, T S Vasulu, Manoranjan Pal

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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