Although evidence shows that women’s empowerment is generally associated with child anthropometry and that different domains affect children’s nutrition differently, findings are mixed and are yet to be systematically reviewed. There is a need for additional research using consistent concepts and indicators for women’s empowerment and rigorous and standardised methods for analysis and evaluation of the relationship of women’s empowerment to child nutritional status.
‘Control of resources and autonomy’ relates to women’s status in the household compared with other members in aspects such as control over income, access to resources, and decision‐making power.
However, the studies are limited, and the relationship is complex. Although involvement in social support networks or community activities may provide opportunities for women to gain knowledge and skills, some studies show that social obligations may be negatively associated with a child nutritional status. This is possibly due to trade‐offs in workload and time for childcare, and/or the poor quality of childcare substitutes.
The direct effect of ‘workload and time,’ which mostly focused on maternal employment outside the home, on child nutrition may be affected by trade‐offs between increased income (and control over income) and time for childcare, and by the quality of alternate childcare providers.
Funding should be directed to researching on the different levels of women’s autonomy, control and decision-making power, and how these impact child nutrition on a more global scale to confirm correlations so that effective policies and programmes can be implemented.
