Husband's preference for a son and women's nutrition: examining the role of actual and desired family composition on women's anaemia and body mass index in India

This study examines the relationship between the husband's preference for a son, sex composition of children and risk of anaemia and underweight among married Indian women. Information was collected regarding 29,517 couples having at least one child in the nationally representative 2005-06 National Family Health Survey of India. The exposures were husband's preference for a son and sex composition of children: sons only, daughters only and mixed. Outcome included maternal underweight and moderate/severe anaemia. Husband's preference for a son was not found to be associated with his wife's risk of anaemia or underweight. Sex composition of the children was modestly associated with increased odds of anaemia among women from households with daughters only as compared with those with sons only [AOR: 1.19; 95% CI 1.04, 1.35]. The findings from this population-based study of socio-cultural norms around preference for a son and married Indian women's nutritional status do not support the hypothesis that husband's preference for sons influences the nutritional status of their wives. However, having daughters only is associated with maternal anaemia for reasons that remain to be established.