ArticleBMC public health2022
A qualitative assessment of gender roles in child nutrition in Central Malawi.
Article in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Behaviour change communication to improve complementary feeding practices in Ethiopia: Couples' beliefs concerning paternal involvement in childcare.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Trial
- Estimating the risk of acute malnutrition among under-five children in Uganda: a distributional analysis of socioeconomic and structural inequalities.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- 'It is the mother who will prepare [the] food that the father and children will eat': opportunities and constraints among household food preparers in urban slums in Nigeria.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Association between maternal employment and child stunting in Kenya.BMC public health · 2026Article
- "When a man is stressed, it replicates in the house": Kenyan women's perspectives on the influence of male partners on perinatal mental health among women affected by HIV.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Gender-Disaggregated Analysis of Sweetpotato Cultivation and Consumption in the Volta Region of Ghana.Plant-environment interactions (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Determinants of Nurturing Care Behaviours in Malawi: An Ethnographic Study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Balancing maternal employment and child nutrition and health: a grounded theory study of rural communities in Northeastern Uganda.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Income and education disparities in childhood malnutrition: a multi-country decomposition analysis.BMC public health · 2024Article
- How do gender norms contribute to stunting in Ntchisi District, Malawi? a qualitative study.PloS one · 2024Article
- The roles of community nutrition scholars in changing mothers' child feeding, food preparation, and hygiene practices in southern Bangladesh.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChild malnutrition persists globally with men and women playing distinct roles to support children's nutrition. Women frequently carry the bulk of the workload related to food, care, and health, all of which are critical factors in child nutrition. For this reason, development efforts have emphasised women ignoring the potential role of men in supporting children's nutrition. This study sought to understand the different roles that Malawian men and women play in children's nutrition.
methodsThis qualitative was conducted in rural Central Malawi as part of a baseline study in 2017 for the CARE Southern Africa Nutrition Initiative. Seventy-six participants were interviewed, including 19 men and 57 women, using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. We sought to understand the gender distribution of men's and women's roles and how these roles influence child nutrition.
resultsWe found that both men and women were involved in productive, reproductive, and community work. However, consistent with the literature, women carried a disproportionate workload in supporting child nutrition compared to men. Women's heavier workloads often prevented them from being able to meet children's food needs. Nevertheless, shifts in gender roles were observed in some of the sampled communities, with men taking up responsibilities that have been typically associated with women. These changes in gender roles, however, did not necessarily increase women's power within the household.
conclusionsTraditional gender roles remain prevalent in the sampled communities. Women continue to be primarily responsible for the food, care, and health of the household. Women's heavy workloads prevent them from providing optimal care and nutrition for children. While efforts to advance gender equality by encouraging men to participate in child care and other household responsibilities appear to have had marginal success, the extent to which these efforts have successfully encouraged men to share power remains unclear. Improving gender equality and child nutrition will require efforts to redistribute gendered work and encourage men to move towards shared power with women over household decision-making and control over income.
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