title: Well-nourished women in a Solomon Islands society with a biased sex ratio.
abstract: This study reports on the growth and nutritional status of females in Roviana (population 12 235), Solomon Islands, where there are fewer surviving females than males in all age groups (male/female = 1.10; Solomon Islands Government 2000). Anthropometric measurements were performed for 1243 voluntary participants from seven villages. The results showed that females were better nourished than males; weight-forage z-scores, for instance, were better for females than those for males throughout all age groups, with statistical significance in the following age groups: younger than 5 years, 10-14 years and 15-19 years. The same pattern was also observed for adults. Results suggest that gender inequality might not be caused by social discrimination.
authors.affiliation: Network for Education and Research on Asia, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033. takuro.f@gmail.com
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furusawa
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aswani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008542:Melanesia; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012737:Sex Factors; D012744:Sex Ratio; D015996:Survival Rate; D016387:Women's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult