The intersectional role of paternal gender-equitable attitudes and maternal empowerment on child undernutrition in India

Undernutrition is a major global health concern, especially for the low- and middle-income countries. Despite several programmatic efforts by the government, prevalence of undernutrition among Indian children under five years was about 38% in 2015. While studies have extensively investigated the influence of sociodemographic and maternal related factors on child undernutrition, the paternal factors and their interactions with other causal factors are understudied. To fill this gap, we conducted an intersectional analysis to assess the relationship between maternal, paternal, and wealth related factors with stunting and severe stunting among underfives in India.