Nutrition Issues in Developing Countries Part I: Diarrheal Diseases, Part II: Diet and Activity During Pregnancy and Lactation (1992) / Chapter Skim
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2 Overview of the Socioeconomic and Health Status of Women in Developing Countries
2 Overview of the Socioeconomic and Health Status of Women in Developing Countries
Pages 77-102
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From page 77... ...
. At the end of 1984, average per capita GDP in Latin America and the Canbbean was as low as Me 1976 level; in Attica, per capita GDP experienced a decline of more than 3 percent per year ~ the 1981-1983 period Because of the increase ~ interest rates around the world, the cost of repaying past debts has increased, becoming a heavy burden on the balance of payments and imps a reallocation of the scarcer resources.
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From page 78... ...
By 1985, Stanton affected large portions of the population in Affica, and hunger was still prevalent in Asian and Latin American countries (WHO, 1987~. Depending on the indicators and cutoff powts used, estimates of the malnourished population vary considerably.
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From page 79... ...
As a consequence, almost two-thirds of illiterate adults ~ developing countries are women. According to 1980 estmates, Me general level of adult illiteracy was 60 percent in Africa, 40 percent In Asia and the Pacific, and 20 percent ~ Latin America (WHO, 1987~.
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From page 80... ...
Infant and Child Mortality Dig 1975-1985, the infant mortality rate deceased in approximately 150 countries. However, ~ more than 25 percent of the world's countries, which represent 29 percent of the world's population, infant mortality rates still are higher than 100 per 1,000 live births (Table 2-2~.
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From page 81... ...
Nutritional Anemia Wile nutnhona1 anemia affects members of both sexes and people in all age groups, the problem is more prevalent among women and contributes to maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as to low birth weight Table 23 goes rates of nutritional anemia for pregnant women from selected developing countries. It has been estimated that nutritional anemia affects almost two-thirds of the pregnant and 50 percent of the nonpregnant women in developing countries.
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From page 82... ...
, however, have analyzed data from 11 different regions in the developed world and 25 areas in developing countries. In developing countnes, they found that most low birth weight appears to be due to intrauterine growth retardation, whereas in developed countries (especially those with the lowest rates of low birth weight)
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From page 83... ...
PHYSICAL ACTIVE OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNI1tIES In developing countnes, women's roles include both income-producing and household-production activities. Income-produang activities are often essential for the household to function, especially among poor women, whose contribution to the family income is particularly important.
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From page 84... ...
. TABLE 24 Mean Birth Weight and Low Both Weight Prevalence, by Country Region and Country Mean Birth Weight (g)
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From page 85... ...
has the highest proportion of women in the active labor force, with up to 47 percent of women in Botswana and 32 percent in Nigeria reported to be active. In Asia, with the exception of the People's Republic of China, female labor force participation is also high; for example, 27 percent of women in India are recorded as being economically active.
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From page 86... ...
Patterns of Energy Expenditure and Intake and Low Birth Weight In developing countnes, patterns of energy expenditure during pregnancy are of particular concern since women generally consume diets lower In energy and have lower prepregnant weights than women in developed countries. Weight gains during pregnancy are also lower.
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From page 87... ...
Activity Patterns of Women in Rural Areas A typical Zambian woman's day dunug the planting season is described in Table 2-7, showing the amount of physical activity performed each day by a woman ~ rural Attica. Much of this acting involves bending, walking, and carrying loads; all of these activities are more difficult for pregnant women.
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From page 88... ...
1be Gambia 1,600 1,750 Martinez and Chavez Mexico 1,950 SOURCE: Whitehead, 1983. TABLE 2~b Reported Energy Intakes of Childbeanug Women in Developed Countnes Source Country Breastfeeding Nonb~stfeeding English and Hitchcock Australia 2,460 1,880 Venoms et al.
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From page 89... ...
Many women in developing countries are involved in agricultural activities that have higher energy costs. The overall energy expenditure among women in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta)
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From page 90... ...
conducted a case study of the amount of pay women recede for agricultural work in the coffee and tobacco plantations of Honduras and compared these figures with those of a national census conducted 3 years earlier for the same geographical region. Based on plantation production and salary records, Buvinic estimated the extent of female participation in the paid agricultural labor force for the previous harvest season.
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From page 91... ...
McGuire found no seasonal effects on energy expenditure. Pregnant women expended significantly more energy per clay Man lactating women 2,044 ~ 158 kcaV24 hours and 1,821 + 120 kcaln4 hours, respectively, (P c 0.01~4but these differences disappeared when dam were corrected for body weighs The energy losses in breast milk are not included in these figures.
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From page 92... ...
Both types of activities often necessitate substantial energy expenditures. Using the data from The Gambia, the amount of time pregnant women spend ~ light' moderate, and heavy work can be estimated, including the amount of energy expended on these activities.
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From page 93... ...
While the data on energy expenditure for light and moderate work were similar for tasks categorized as light and moderate, expenditure for hard activities caned, thus the three estimates were used. Light activities with an estimated energy expenditure rate of 1.25 kcaV~ute included sitting, most food preparation, and standing tenth a child.
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From page 94... ...
However, Table 2-10 can be used for illustrative purposes to indicate the large seasonal differences that are evident, the associated increases in energy expenditure related to field work, and the other home maintenance duties that women are responsible for on a daily basis. TABLE 2-10 Estimated Energy Eq~enditure Level Among Pregnant Wome,.
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From page 95... ...
Transportation to and from work, to buy and carry essential household goods, including food, or to attend health care facilities (for the children or herselp also require considerable amounts of energy, especially when public transport is expensive and unreliable. With increased rural-urban migration in La~ America, an increasing pattern of seasonal work in the agricultural sector for urban women has been described.
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From page 96... ...
SOURCE: ICRW, 1980a. Most developing countries subscribe to International Labor Orga~lion conventions that are designed to protect women from heavy work or work that may endanger a woman or her fetus.
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From page 97... ...
Market vending, street food vending, and domestic seance are examples of informal sector work dominated by women in Latin America, the CanDbean, Africa, and parts of Asia. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the mid-1970s, for example, 54 percent of the informal sector workers were women.
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From page 98... ...
Traders and peddlers alternate street or market work with employment as domestic service workers. Domestic service work often requires that women work 14-16 hours a day, most of the time while standing or bending, and is considered highly demanding work by the women themselves (punster and Chaney, 1985~.
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From page 99... ...
The involvement of women In informal sector work in developing countries is a subject that social scientists are studying intensively. As more data become available, types of work that poor urban women perform will be better identified.
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From page 100... ...
1979. Seasonal Changes in Energy Expenditure and Work Patterns of Rural Guatemalan Women.
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From page 101... ...
1984. Measunng time allocation, decision-mal;ing and agrarian changes affecting rural women: Examples from recent research in Indonesia.
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