Child malnutrition rates in Bangladesh continue to remain among
the highest in the world. This Asian enigma of persistent
malnutrition despite growth in the overall economy is often
attributed to the low status of women. It is against this
backdrop of higher economic growth and stagnating malnutrition
rates that this paper examines the role played by women’s
empowerment and endowments in relation to childhood malnutrition
in Bangladesh. We use data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic
and Health Survey to examine the relationship between women’s
status and nutrition in Bangladesh using indicators of
empowerment such as mobility, decisionmaking power, and
attitudes toward verbal and physical abuse. We also examine the
role of variables reflecting maternal education and height, in
relation to child nutrition. All models control for age and sex
of the child, household wealth, and region. Results from logit
models indicate that both a greater degree of women’s
empowerment and greater maternal endowments are assoc