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http://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/News/News/child-charity-news/Pages/Children-Child-Brides-Malnutrition-106.aspx

Also via SVRI - Sexual Violence Research Initiative

 

BABIES OF CHILD BRIDES MORE SUSCEPTIBLE

TO MALNUTRITION - RESEARCH STUDY

 

21/1/2010 - A recent study by a Boston University professor found that children born to mothers who were married and gave birth before they were 18 are more likely to be malnourished.

A study published in the British Medical Journal found that the rate of malnutrition among babies born to child brides is much higher than that of babies born to adult women.

The study was conducted by Boston University School of Public Health professor Dr. Anita Raj. Raj’s field of research includes gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health.

Out of 19 000 births included in Raj’s research, 13 000 were born to women under the age of 18. And, 67% of these babies manifested nutritional deficiencies. The implication of these results is that children born to women who are still children themselves are more likely to be underweight and stunted (meaning their physical growth has been retarded on account of a lack of adequate nutrition).

The report on Raj’s study goes on to contemplate that the reason for this trend is that the girls are marginalized in their marriages and cannot successfully petition their husbands for their children’s right to food. Worldwide, some 1.5 million children die annually from the lack of nutrients that comes from severe and chronic hunger. These relationships have led some to suggest that improvements in the status of women can help improve food security.

Dr. Raj expressed her hope that the results of the study will help to raise awareness of the importance of both recognizing and catering to the needs of children born to child brides—especially in India, where large numbers of women marry and give birth before they are 18 years old.

With the growth of civil society across the globe, many women’s rights advocacy groups have been very vocal on the prevention of child marriages, which they see as an important tenet of child protection. One female blogger and women’s rights promoter, Al Nafjan, commenting on this issue in Saudi Arabia offers an explanation for what some see as a rising number of child brides in the country: “Girls are seen as very risky in Saudi Arabia because they can later shame the family name by sleeping with someone. So families often marry off their girls at a young age so they can't shame the family.”

In many countries, the marriage of young girls to older men is bound up in deep-rooted traditions and religion, as well as with economic considerations (families receive a bride price for their daughter from the groom).  Much light has cast on the issue in recent years, especially since the coverage of the brave story of Nojoud Ali, the eight year-old child bride from Yemen. Ali endured a forced marriage, but escaped by independently taking a taxi to a courthouse in order to file for a divorce. However, child marriages do take place outside the Middle East, including countries in the Carribbean, South Asia, and Africa.





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