The Youngest Are Hungriest

&gt; India’s patrilineal traditions dictate that the eldest son care for his parents in old age and inherit property, while the dowries paid to marry off daughters can be expensive. The result is sex-selective abortion and an underinvestment in girls so common it has popularized a Hindi motto: “beti to bojh hoti hai,” meaning, “a daughter is a burden.”<p>This explanation has always been unsatisfying for me. At least it seems incomplete. The system is obviously unethical, but I don&#x27;t understand how the economics work here.<p>If only the eldest son inherits, why are the the following sons valued? Given that the practice creates a surplus of unmarried men, shouldn&#x27;t unmarried women become an asset instead of a liability? Shouldn&#x27;t unmarried men be a huge force against the dowry system?

&quot;Over 40 percent of those 5 and under are stunted — meaning they are in the bottom 2 to 3 percent of the worldwide height distribution for their age and sex&quot;<p>Argh. It really bugs me when newspapers can&#x27;t do simple arithmetic. Especially in the lead paragraph.<p>India is about 17-18% of the world&#x27;s population. It has a slightly above average fertility rate, so it will have disproportionately more children. So about 20% of the world&#x27;s children are Indian.<p>If 40% of Indian children are stunted, therefore, <i>at least</i> 8% of children worldwide must be stunted (not including Africa, China, etc.). 8% of children cannot be in the bottom 2-3% of the world&#x27;s height distribution. That is not how statistics works.<p>If this obvious an error was put in the lead paragraph, how can we trust that the other facts are accurate?

I&#x27;m not sure if this is the place for an anecdote, but here we go. And just to give a warning, this is from an American perspective.<p>I am the first born. My mother has told me that she would could the amount of protein she would get each day during her pregnancy with me. If she didn&#x27;t get enough she would each more or drink a large glass of milk to try and supplement her diet. She didn&#x27;t drink soda either.<p>With my younger brother she tried to make sure she ate enough protein, though she gave up not drinking soda.<p>With the youngest, my sister, she was working part time during her pregnancy and wasn&#x27;t able to watch what she ate like with either me or my brother.<p>This all being said, we are no where near malnutrition. There is a considerable size difference between me and my siblings. I am 6&#x27;4&quot; and have considerably larger bone structure than my siblings. (I&#x27;m not fat&#x2F;obese&#x2F;heavy. I only weigh 193 lbs.)<p>My brother is just a 6&#x27; and considerably smaller than I am. My sister is smaller than my brother and has a similar bone structure.<p>Might there be a biological imperative to ensure that the first born is healthy. Then with the later children parent lose the need to ensure their children are as healthy.

The South African Indian population has, apart from easily distinguished recent migrants, been in the country for 100+ years, and is relatively large (more than 1 million people). Due to apartheid, assimilation was limited, and the population was drawn from all over India. It would make an interesting comparison group, matched for socioeconomic status. If the pattern persisted in South Africa, then further research would be needed - South African Indians generally rely on pensions&#x2F;savings to support them in old age.

This is an interesting example of a market without speculators. Future demand will be high, but current demand is low, so production remains low. In a market with speculators this would lead to stockpiling in anticipation of price increases.

<i>open defecation, which is more widespread in India than Africa,</i><p>For real? It&#x27;s astonishing that India - a second world country, alleged rising star - could get beaten out in sanitation by Africa.

Devil&#x27;s advocate, which is why I have this account: why is it not a gender equality issue that the sons are expected to care for their parents and not the daughters?<p>I&#x27;m not saying everything is hunky-dory in India. I&#x27;m saying that if someone thinks the fix is &quot;Oh just apply Americanism in this particular aspect&quot; then that someone is naive.