Dietary Diversity Scores Measurements Srinivasulu Rajendran Centre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD) Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi India [email protected]
Mar 30, 2015
Dietary Diversity Scores Measurements
Srinivasulu RajendranCentre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)New Delhi
Objective of the session
1. To measure dietary diversity scores that a household has consumed over the preceding 3 days or 24 hrs
1.How to calculate Dietary diversity scores and
2.How to create other indicators of interest from dietary diversity data
The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS)
It is a simple COUNT OF FOOD
GROUPS that a household or an individual has
consumed over the preceding 24 hours (FAO Guidelines)
Food Groups?
Group No
Food Groups Yes = 1 No=0
1 CEREALS
2 WHITE ROOTS & TUBERS
3 VITAMIN A RICH VEG. & TUBERS
4 DARK GREEN LEAFY VEG
5 OTHER VEGETABLES
6 VITAMIN A RICH FRUITS
7 OTHER FRUITS
8 ORGAN MEAT
9 FLESH MEATS
10 EGGS
11 FISH AND SEAFOOD
12 LEGUMES, NUTS AND SEEDS
13 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
14 OILS AND FATS
15 SWEETS
16 SPICES, CONDIMENTS, BEVERAGES
Source: FAO
Detailed commodity groups available in
“Guidelines for Measuring Household and Individual
Dietary Diversity”
FAO
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO
UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF
COMMODITY INCULDES WHEN
IT COOKED
How HDDS reflect to Food Security?
HDDS is meant to reflect, in a snapshot
form, the economic ability of a household to access a
variety of foods . Source: FAO
Whereas, Individual Dietary Diversity Scores aim to reflect nutrient
adequacy, BUT there some evidences Women Dietary Diversity Score (WDDS) also reflects Household
Economic Access to FoodSource: FAO
Difference between Household and Individual
Levels
Action Household Level Questionnaire
Individual level Questionnaire
What the tool measures
Household economic access to food (dietary energy)
Quality of the individual diet; for women probability of micronutrient adequacy of the diet
Respondent
Person responsible for food preparation for the household on the previous day or last 3 days
Women aged 15-49 years or individuals in other age/sex groups
Target of interest
The household (All persons living under the same roof who share meals)
The respondent
Included and excluded foods
Includes food: prepared in the home and consumed in the home or outside the home; or purchased or gathered outside and consumed in the home
All foods eaten by the individual of interest, consumed inside or outside the home, irrespective of where they were prepared
Number of food group included in the score
12 groups included in the HDDS 9 groups included in the WDDSSource: FAO
BUTToday we
are focusing on
“The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS)”
Data Sources
Anthropometric indictors
The Household
Dietary Diversity
Score (HDDS)
Chronic Poverty Study - IFPRI
Bangladesh Demographic and
Health Survey (BDHS) - 2007
Reference Period
FAO uses a reference period of the previous 24 hrs, whereas IFPRI uses 3 days recall period.
The recall period of 24 hrs was chosen by FAO as it is less subject to recall error, less cumbersome for the respondent and also conforms to the recall time period
When to measure dietary diversity?
The optimal time of year to measure dietary diversity of households or individuals depends on the objective of the survey or monitoring activity.
There are several scenarios to assist potential users in planning surveys.
More details please refer:
“Guidelines for Measuring Households and Individual Dietary Diversity”
Source: FAO
Activities to undertake before beginning data collection
Translation and adaption steps(i) Basic translation(ii) First Review(iii) Key informant and community meeting to refine the food
lists and translations
Technical issues to discuss prior to beginning data collection
(i) Minimum quantities (ii) Individual food items that could be classified into more
than one food group (decide appropriate food group) (iii) mixed dishes: team will need to agree on a way to
disaggregate mixed dishes in order to record all of the individual components in their respective food groups.
Training Survey interviewersSource: FAO
How to Create Dietary Diversity Scores
As per FAO, Dietary Diversity Scores are calculated by summing the number of food groups consumed in the household or by the individual respondent over the 24 hrs recall period.
Whereas, we are measuring on the basis of 3 days recall period due to non-availability of data on 24 hrs recall period.
Source: FAO
Step 1
Create new food group variables for those food groups that need to be aggregated.
For example: HDDS the food group “Starchy staples” is a combination of “Cereals” and “White roots and tubers”. A new variable termed “Starchy staples” should be created by combining the answers to “Cereals” and White roots and tubers”.
STATA Command:gen star_staple = 0replace star_staple = 1 if cereal ==1 |
white_root == 1As a check, run a “Frequencies” test on all
newly created variables and make sure that all value are either 0 or 1. There should be no values > 1 for the newly created variable
Step 2
USING AND INTERPRETING RESULTS
There are no established cut-off points in terms of number of food groups to indicate adequate or inadequate dietary diversity for the HDDS.
Because of this, it is recommended to use the mean score or distribution of scores for analytical purpose and to set the programme targets.
When interpreting the dietary diversity
score, it is important to keep in mind
that
1.The dietary diversity score does not indicate the quantity of food consumed
2.Diet varies across seasons and some foods can be available in large quantities and at low cost for short periods
3.There may be urban/rural differentials in dietary diversity. Variety is often much greater in urban and peri-urban centres where food markets are adequately supplied and easily accessible