Women may live longer than men, but on average they have poorer health. When mothers and daughters receive inferior nutrition and health care, girls’ long-term health and the well-being of future generations are harmed. Some examples:
- Malnourished women deliver less-healthy babies.
- Adolescent childbearing, common where child marriage is allowed, poses health risks and limits life prospects for the teen mothers and their children.
- In places where sons are preferred, abortion of female fetuses and female infanticide produces a shortage of women relative to men, with potentially alarming social consequences.
