Optimising health with gender equity: a missing piece in nutrition programme planning

Women have poorer diets than men worldwide and the health and economic costs of this inequity are unknown.

I will estimate health, mortality and economic consequences of gender-based nutritional inequity in poor households. My findings will inform how national and international nutrition policy can influence food allocation behaviours. I will use survey data from 27,660 households in eight low- and middle-income countries to predict the health consequences and numbers of lives lost to poor nutrition and the economic costs of gender inequity. I will also conduct a multi-country analysis to identify factors that affect food allocation within households.

This will be the first study on the health, mortality and economic effects of gender inequity in diets. My findings will provide information that could transform the design of national and international policy and programmes to protect women and save lives.