The Indian Enigma revisited.

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Developmental Economics
• Human Nutrition

Background:

• The "Indian Enigma" refers to the paradox of high chronic undernutrition in India compared to sub-Saharan Africa.
• Previous research suggested differential treatment of higher birth order children, especially girls, as a key factor.

Purpose of the Study:

• To re-examine the causes of the "Indian Enigma" by analyzing new data.
• To test the hypothesis that birth order and child sex explain the nutritional gap.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of new survey data.
• Robustness checks for sampling design, model specification, and weighting.
• Comparison of pre-school child height between India and sub-Saharan Africa.

Main Results:

• Parameter estimates were sensitive to sampling design and model specification.
• The height gap between pre-school children in India and Africa is narrowing.
• The height gap is not driven by birth order or child sex.
• Maternal height is a significant factor explaining the remaining height difference.

Conclusions:

• The "Indian Enigma" is not explained by the differential treatment of higher birth order children or girls.
• Differences in maternal height are a primary driver of the height gap between pre-school children in India and Africa.
• After accounting for maternal height and other factors, the impact of being an Indian girl on height is not statistically significant.