Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India
研究发现，在印度，由于重男轻女的生育偏好，母亲对女孩的哺乳时间短于男孩，尤其在接近目标家庭规模时性别差距最大，且这种模式与儿童存活率相关。
Breastfeeding is negatively correlated with future fertility because nursing temporarily reduces fecundity and because mothers usually wean on becoming pregnant again. We model breastfeeding under son-biased fertility preferences and show that breastfeeding duration increases with birth order, especially near target family size; is lowest for daughters and children without older brothers because their parents try again for a son; and exhibits the largest gender gap near target family size, when gender is most predictive of subsequent fertility. Data from India confirm each prediction. Moreover, child survival exhibits similar patterns, especially in settings where the alternatives to breastmilk are unsanitary.