Dr. Susan Alex, K.P.B. Hinduja College of CommerceAssistant Professor, Department of Economics
Abstract
Women are certainly the foundation of the essential component of society – the family. Women empowerment is essentially the process of upliftment of political, economic, educational, gender, social and political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones, in the society. Globally, educating and empowerment of women have proved to be the catalyst for fast socio-economic growth. Conversely, underdeveloped societies where women are repressed are among the most backward. Denying social, educational and economic opportunities to women to realize their potential is just a waste of human capital and impediment to economic progress.Even in traditional roles women reveal immense levels of innovation, skill, intelligence, hard work and commitment and if these attributes are harnessed effectively, India‟s growth can be more inclusive and equitable. The key to this is providing equal access to health and education to women in India. Health is both human capital itself and an input to producing other forms of human capital. Health is also a normal good: when people get richer, they invest more in their own health, and exhort their governments to spend more on public health. Apart from training and jobs, investing in long-term human capital for women in India requires investments in their health. Women, throughout most of the world, have the major responsibility for their families' nutrition and in many cases, their own nutrition is often impaired, under the social and biological stresses they face. Developments that improve women's position in society are likely to improve nutrition overall, and are essential for this. Programmes intended to improve nutritional conditions for women and their families can be more successfully designed and implemented if there is a greater understanding and awareness of the specific roles that women play.
Keywords: Women Empowerment, Health, Nutrition, Socio-Economic Status, Policy Implications
„As women rise, malnutrition falls‟
Introduction: Human capital is a key factor for growth, development and competitiveness. Especially in recent times, within the modern framework of development, human capital forms the foundation for economic growth and this connection works through numerous pathways at the individual, firm and national level. A skilled talent pool only can help to build significant technological and corporate innovation and consequently this puts an onus on many developing countries that, at the various levels, equality of opportunity in education and employment is necessary. Human capital development is mandatory for not just economic development but also for ensuring positive social and political outcomes. That is why developing human capital is often vital to develop countries with increasing working population. Health is considered both as human capital itself and also as an input necessary for creating other forms of human capital. Lack of health or being unhealthy can discourage the ability to work productively as well as the ability and incentives to invest in human capital. Health affects growth by augmenting worker productivity, by increasing average life expectancy and subsequent human capital accumulation, and by reducing the burden of disease. Health is also a normal good: when people get richer, they invest more in their own health, and exhort their governments to spend more on public health. Policies to promote health in the non-public health sphere focus on improving health care management and service quality, and methods to improve the delivery and affordability of care. In the Indian context, the main source of increases in worker productivity has come from improving nutrition. Studies on policies to promote health in the public health sphere includes research that improves nutrition, increases sanitation infrastructure and access to clean drinking water, identifies effective means to detect diseases and health hazards, and devises ways to combat the debilitating effects of air and water pollution.India‘s long-term growth strategy must be pegged to its labour force, and this in effect requires the effective participation of women, who constitute half the
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country‘s population. The availability of opportunities is of little value if women are unable to effectively participate in such gainful employment. Apart from training and jobs, investing in long- term human capital for women in India requires investments in their health. Health is a driver of economic growth and poverty alleviation, and thus broader economic benefits are to be derived by investing in women‘s health.
Background and Context: Globally, the status of women‘s health falls short of its potential. The existing literature indicates that healthier women and their children contribute to more productive and better-educated societies. Prior studies show that women‘s health is linked with long-term productivity: the development and economic performance of nations depend, in part, upon how each country protects and promotes the health of women. The raison d'être for investing in nutrition is globally well recognized as it is a critical development imperative especially for the most vulnerable sections of the society that is, women young girls and children. Nutrition is recognized as one of the most efficient entry points for human development, poverty reduction and economic development along with high economic returns. Good nutrition is linked to health and is considered as the basis for human development, as it helps in fighting infections, reduces morbidity, disability and mortality burden, as well as enhances cumulative lifelong learning capacities and productivity. However, in India despite strong Constitutional, legislative policy, plan and programme commitments, high levels of maternal and child under-nutrition in India still persist. A number of legislations like the National Food Security Act 2013, ordering food and nutrition entitlements for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers with maternity support, children along with the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003 present a strong policy framework to protect, support and promote nutrition interventions – particularly in periods of utmost vulnerability for women and children. The National Nutrition Policy 1993, complemented by other policies such as the National Health Policy 2002, the National Policy for Children, 2013 provides a strong basis for tackling the immediate and the underlying determinants of undernutrition through both direct and indirect interventions.
Health of Women in India: Health is complex and dependent on a host of factors. The active interplay of social and environmental factors have profound and multifaceted implications on health. The conditions of women‘s lives shape their health in more ways than one. The health of Indian women is intrinsically linked to their status in society. Indian society which has deeply ingrained patriarchal norms and values where the preference for a male child often leads to low levels of education, nutrition and formal labor force participation for women. They typically have little autonomy, living under the control of male members of their family usually their father, husband and later even sons. All of these factors have a negative impact on the health status of Indian women. Poor health has repercussions not only for women but also their families, as women with poor health are more likely to give birth to low weight infants, and also are less likely to be able to provide food and adequate care for their children. Finally, a woman‘s health affects the household economic well- being, as a woman in poor health will be less productive in the labor force. Nearly half of Indian population at 48.5% is women but account for less than a quarter of its paid workforce. India‘s overall female labor force participation (FLFP) rate has remains low in fact, and dropped from 35% in 1991 to 27% in 2014 as per World Bank Data. Hence, apart from training and jobs, investing in long-term human capital for women in India requires investments in their health.
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Women with Low BMI: In chronically undernourished women, pregnancy and lactation have an adverse effect on maternal nutritional status. Low pre pregnancy weight and low pregnancy weight gain are associated with low birth weight and all its attendant adverse consequences.