Intra-household food allocation norms and adolescent girls' nutrition in Western Hararghe, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Inequitable intrahousehold food allocation social norms are practices that can contribute to unhealthy eating patterns in adolescent girls, such as restrictive diets or less quality and quantity meals which can contribute to adolescent girls' thinness. This problem is particularly prevalent in low- and middle- income countries where women are often the primary caregivers in households. Caregivers' food distribution practices are shaped by community social norms and traditions that can reinforce inequitable food distribution.