India, Sept. 25 -- There is every reason to celebrate the progress India has made in reducing child malnutrition. But we must not forget that this cycle begins much earlier, with the nutrition of girls and women. Studies prove that an undernourished girl is more like to suffer poor birth outcomes which leads to her child starting life at a health disadvantage. Discussions on nutrition almost always begin when a woman gets pregnant, overlooking that her nutritional health is shaped much earlier, during adolescence and childhood.

In a patriarchal society, girls eat least and eat last. They have less access to nutritious food, face restrictions on what they can or cannot eat and all round they have reduced decision-making capacities on issu...