Although major strides are being made worldwide to reduce the gender gap in education, there continue to be significant barriers to girls’ education and empowerment—particularly for adolescent girls. In India, a country where dominant patriarchal norms continue to persist, the birth of a girl is still a cause for mourning. India has a long way to go to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to complete secondary school. Additionally, improved access to healthcare and sanitation expectedly, play a significant part. The relevance of these factors corroborates the recommendations made by previous work in this area. Future research should carry out rigorous evaluations of poverty alleviation measures, such as microfinance, in terms of whether they would affect these outside options that empower children and thus reduce the prevalence of child malnutrition in developing countries.

Bhavya Anand serves as the Senior Director of Health System. She developed and teaches a Healthcare Sustainability curriculum for higher education, piloted as an adjunct faculty member at Deemed University. She is also CEO of communication journal, a foundation dedicated to developing young high potential leaders.