Energy balance, nutrient intake and discretionary activity in a South Indian village

The energy balance and discretionary activity of eight male and eight female South Indian farmers was carefully measured for four days in 1983. The women, who were small and had low energy intakes, expended far more time on work than the males. Height and weight for male subjects averaged 161.0 cm and 48.2 kg. The women were 148.8 cm tall and weighed only 36.9 kg. Women were able to perform the 15 work tasks at lower cost than men primarily because they were smaller. In males the energy intake was 9.83 MJ (2350 kcal). The females’ mean energy intake was 7.73 MJ (1852 kcal). The average energy intake per unit mass was equal for both sexes at 200 KJ (50 kcal) per kg. Women allocated more time to economically productive work (46.2% or 11.1 hours versus 33.9% or 8.1 hours). There was no significant correlation between an individual's energy intake and time spent working (r = –.24). There was no association between intake and energy expended on economically productive tasks (r = .02). Both social and physiological processes enable women and others on a low plane of nutrition to maintain a high level of productivity.