Many of the deaths were due to neglect, both within their families and from health practitioners, as well as an “invisible, routine and continued”, bias Indian girls experience in food allocation. Studies have shown that Indian girls receive less education, have poorer nutrition and get less medical attention than boys. The worst affected was northern India, which has a number of large rural agricultural states with low education and socio-economic development levels and high fertility. “Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” said Guilmoto. Dr Nandita Saikia, the paper’s co-author, said any intervention to reduce discrimination against girls should target priority states in northern India.

Source: The Guardian May 15, 2018 00:29 UTC