Mother‐child food allocation and levels of subsistence activity in rural Nepal

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Abstract
Energy intake, energy expenditure and time‐allocation data for 25 child‐bearing rural Nepali women were examined for seasonal and caste differences, and food allocation compared for the mother and child. Food portions were weighed individually, activities recorded minute‐by‐minute, and mother‐child pairs observed continuously throughout the day, over three consecutive days per season at two different times of the year (repeated measures in both spring and monsoon seasons were available for 12 women). Mothers showed no seasonality in energy intake (46 kcal/kg/day), subsistence workload, or body mass. There were caste differences in subsistence activities and energy expenditure (2245 versus 1984 kcal/day, or 1.9 versus 1.7 times predicted basal metabolic rate) for agro‐pastoralist and blacksmith women, but no significant differences in energy intakes (2139 versus 2166 kcal/day), indicating a more precarious energy balance for the agro‐pastoralists. In contrast, 1–4 year olds showed a significant increase in energy intakes from 47 kcal/kg/day in the spring to 68 kcal/kg/day in the monsoon season, and those of low caste status averaged higher energy intakes adjusted for body mass. Working mothers fed their children more supplementary foods during the monsoon season, sharing with them snacks taken at the work‐place, at a time when women are constrained by moderate to very heavy work‐loads but the children are most vulnerable to disease. Results support recent research showing that households attempt to protect young children from food stress, with particular attention given to the interplay between seasonality, socio‐economic status, women's work and mother‐child food allocation.