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Status of Women in India and ... Malnourished Kids

In a report the results of which really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone from India
India ranks 3rd from bottom of the world on malnourished kids

Consider some of the findings from a report released globally today by the Washington-based International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI).
  • The proportion of children found underweight in India, according to the latest figures is 47.5 per cent, which makes it worse than conflict-plagued, drought-stricken Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • According to the report's lead author Doris Wiesmann, “In India, women eat the last and the least, increasing the chances of anaemia,” she explained.
  • “It has been observed that the women who have a say in the family, allocate more resources to their children’s nutritional needs. Men have other priorities,” she said.
What are you going to do about it?
What can you do about it?
Simple, treat the women and children in your house as your equals- insist that they sit down to eat with you. If it's a matter of practical feasibility, let the women and children eat first!
It's time to dump the retro Indian tradition of making the women and children wait while men eat first during lunch and dinner. I know most of my progressive and educated friends do not subscribe to this shameful practice, ... but a lot of them still do!
And try to educate and influence your maid, your driver, your office boy, your dhobi, your doodhwaala, and the next construction worker and the auto rickshaw driver you run into.
But remember, you have to start by setting an example of yourself!
Is that too much to ask of you, my dear friends from India?

[Originally posted on my personal blog at muralikd.blogspot.com, October 14, 2006]

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