Methods of Measuring Dietary Diversity

Lalita Bhattacharjee

Agnieszka Balcerzak

Aklima Parvin

Nutritionists

Training on Comparative Review of the Nutrition Situation and Policies in Selected Countries and with particular reference to Bangladesh

27 March to 6 April 2014

Foods differ in terms of nutrients they deliver to our organism, and we need to consume a bit from each of the food groups to

make sure we cover our nutritional needs.

Grouping foods in a functional food groups is the first step to talk about dietary diversity

Overview of the Methodology• Food security assessments have been standardized• For dietary assessment there is no one “correct” method

Recent Fanta II/FAO have proposed and validated 8 options:6 group (restricted and unrestricted)9 groups (restricted and unrestricted)13 groups (restricted and unrestricted)21 groups (restricted and unrestricted)

Data Collection

Dietary recall

• Limitations:– Incorrect recall (respondent biases)– Investigator error – Time consuming interview– Relays largely on the cognitive abilities and

memory of the respondent– Annoying for the respondent

Practical Exercise 3: Use of dietary diversity in food security and nutrition surveillance – Jillian L. Waid

Food Quantity(g)Breakfast (7AM)Rice parboiled 180Gourd(bottle ) 125Potato 100Bengal gram 15Spices 10Oils Soybean 10Lunch : 1pm, Rice parboiled 180Khalshe fish 40Red amaranth/lal shak 125Bengal gram (split)/cholar dal 15Spices 10Oils Soybean 10Evening snacks 4PMPeas dried /split 30Rice (Puffed) 50Dinner : 8 pm, Rice parboiled 150Indian spinach/pui shak 125Gourd (Bottle) 125Bengal gram (split) 20Spices 10Oils Soybean 10

16 Food groupsQuestion Number

Food group Question Number

Food group

1. CEREALS 9. FLESH MEATS

2. WHITE POOTS AND TUBERS 10. EGGS

3. VITAMIN A RICH VEGETABLES AND TUBERS 11. FISH AND SEAFOOD

4. DARK GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES 12. LEGUMES, NUTS AND SEEDS

5. OTHER VEGETABLES 13. MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS

6. VITAMIN A RICH FRUITS 14. OILS AND FATS

7. OTHER FRUITS 15. SWEETS

8. ORGAN MEAT 16. SPICES, CONDIMENTS, BEVERAGES

Scoring

Practical Exercise 3: Use of dietary diversity in food security and nutrition surveillance – Jillian L. Waid

HDDS WDDS 9-group WDDS 13-group IYCF DD

Q Food Group Q Food Group Q Food Group Q Food Group

1. Cereals 1,2 Starchy staples 1,2 Starchy staples 1,2 Starchy staples

2. White tubers & roots 4 Dark green leafy vegetables

4 Dark green leafy vegetables

3,4,5 Vegetables 3,6 Vitamin A rich fruits & vegetables

3 Vitamin A rich vegetables

3,4,6 Vitamin A rich fruits & vegetables

5,7 Other fruits & vegetables

6 Vitamin A rich fruits

5,7 Other fruits & vegetables

5 Other vegetables

6,7 Fruits 7 Other fruits

8,9 Meat 8 Organ meat 8 Organ meat

11 Fish and other sea food 9,11 Meat and fish 9,11 Meat and fish 8,9,11 Flesh foods

10 Egg 10 Egg 10 Egg 10 Egg

12 Legumes, nuts & seeds 12 Legumes, nuts & seeds

12 Legumes, nuts & seeds

12 Legumes, nuts & seeds

13 Dairy 13 Dairy 13 Dairy 13 Dairy

14 Oils & fats

15 Sweets

16 Condiments & beverages

Methods for Data Analysis

• Cut-offs: Not universally defined– FANTA 2: less than 5 (out of 9 or 13 groups)

inadequate

• Programmatically:– Goal to raise the mean overall to the mean of

the top third of respondents

HDDS Calculation

Step 1: Assign 1 if the food group/item consumed; 0 not consumed. Sum all the scores for various food groups. Sum will be between 0-12.

Step 2: The average HDDS for the sample populationSum HDDS

Total no. of households

Setting HDDS Threshold:

Option 1: From a baseline survey take the HDDS for the richest income tercile (33%)

Option 2: From a baseline survey take HDDS of the upper tercile of diet diversity (33%)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION !