Kennedy E, Binder G, Humphries-Waa K, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to describe the emergence of gender inequalities in health and wellbeing across the first two decades of life. They concentrated on the 40 low-income and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific. In some settings, son preference remains evident, signified by higher than expected male-to-female gender ratios at birth in India, Vietnam, and China (which might indicate prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortion), and a higher than expected mortality in some South Asian and Pacific nations among female children. Gender disparities in other indicators of wellbeing across early childhood have otherwise not been noted; gains made in child mortality, undernutrition, and primary education have been, for the most part, equally shared by boys and girls in this region. However, progress has not continued through the second decade of life, with gender inequalities in wellbeing emerging most markedly and increasing during adolescence. Adolescent boys experienced excess all-cause mortality and substantially higher mortality due to unintentional injury, interpersonal violence, alcohol and other drugs, and suicide compared with girls, and higher prevalence of harmful drinking and tobacco smoking. In later childhood and early adolescence, these results call for an emphasis on gender policy and programming before gender differences become embedded.