Hunger - Hunger and Gender

Hunger and Gender

In both developing and advanced countries, both mothers and fathers will sometimes go without eating so their children can avoid hunger. But women seem to be more likely to make this sacrifice than men. Studies by World Bank have consistently found that about 60% of those experiencing hunger are female. The explanation for this disproportionate suffering appears to be that compared to men, women will more often forgo meals in order to feed their children. In older sources this was sometimes said to be a phenomena unique to developing countries, due to greater sexual inequality. More recent findings have suggested that mothers will also often miss meals even in advanced economies. For example, a 2012 study undertook by Netmums in the UK found that one in five mothers would sometimes miss out on food so as to be able to save their children from going hungry.