A comparison of sex differential mortality rates indicates that women are at increased risk in several countries of Asia, in part due to less access to a variety of services and lower priority for food than their male siblings. Poorer nutritional status becomes apparent during adolescence, with a delay in maturation which may have repercussions for subsequent ability of the biologically immature woman to carry through a normal pregnancy. There is a dearth of information on girls during this vulnerable period of life which is recently being corrected by studies in Nepal, India and the Philippines where the magnitude of dietary risk is being compared with its impact on nutritional status and the sociocultural factors that may be responsible.
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