EXAMINING THE GENDER-GAP IN NUTRITION - AN EXAMPLE FROM RURAL MEXICO

Gender differences in nutrient and food intake were examined in Mexica n Nutrition CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Program) infants (N = 75), preschoolers (n = 80), and school children (N = 91). No signific ant gender differences in dietary quality or quantity were seen for in fants and preschoolers. For school children, the contribution of vario us foods to total energy intake (dietary quality) was also quite simil ar for girls and boys. Equity in dietary quality remained even under c onditions of economic and demographic stress. Nevertheless, school gir ls consumed significantly less energy per day than boys ((similar to)( (sic))300 kcal/d or 1.3 mJ/d), and less of all micronutrients examined . Gender differences in estimated basal metabolic rates of school chil dren were slight (((sic))20 kcal/d), and body composition and size wer e similar. When energy intakes were expressed as a percent of estimate d requirement (calculated from age, sex and weight using WHO/FAO/UNU e quations), intakes were adequate and not significantly different betwe en girls ((x) over bar = 111%) and boys ((x) over bar = 113%). Playgro und observations showed girls to be less active than boys, which may r eflect both cultural and biological influences. Apparently due to this lower activity, school girls consumed less energy, and may have been at much higher risk than boys of micronutrient deficiency. The lower f ood intakes of girls did not appear to be due to purposeful dietary di scrimination, but rather to culturally patterned sex roles involving l ower activity. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.