Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W)
Indicator Name
Indicator ID in PRIME
Definition
This indicator measures the proportion of reproductive aged women (15 to 49 Yrs) who have consumed at least five out of ten defined food groups the previous day or night to reflect one key dimension of diet quality: micronutrient adequacy, summarized across 11 micronutrients. The MDD-W was developed as a proxy indicator to reflect the micronutrient adequacy of women’s diets. The main use of the MDD-W is for assessment at national and subnational levels. It is a population-level indicator based on a recall period of a single day and night.
Initially developed for use with non-pregnant, non-breastfeeding women in this age range the tool has been used and the 5 food group cut-ff validated for pregnant women (see source below). Results should be reported separately for pregnant, breastfeeding and non-pregnant, non-breastfeeding women of WRA. Breastfeeding women are defined as currently breastfeeding at least one child under the age of 24 months
The source of questions for the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) is “Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women; A Guide to Measurement: (Minimum dietary diversity for women)
Numerator
Number women of reproductive age (WRA) who achieve this minimum of five food groups out of ten in a population can be used as a proxy indicator for higher micronutrient adequacy.
Denominator
Number women of reproductive age (WRA) in programme.
Representative population-based survey of women in targeted areas at baseline, mid-term, endline using RF4BN/Cash Plus for Nutrition project resources for surveys in RF4BN MEAL toolkit or as a part of routine monitoring in projects with adequate sample size to measure change. https://www.informedinternational.org/resources/rf4bn-toolkit
Indicator Prioritisation
Level of Indicator
Indicator Context Type
Theme
Sub Theme
Cross-Cutting Themes
Common Approach
Total Reach Indicator
Context
Frequency of Data Collection
Unit of Measure
Data Format
Direction of Desired Change
Number of Decimal Points
Indicator is Rounding
Nature
Recommended Disaggregations
See XLS Forms available for download here: RF4BN Toolkit — Informed International
Integrating Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) into multitopic surveys
Validation in pregnant women:
(PDF) Assessing Dietary Diversity in Pregnant Women: Relative Validity of the List-Based and Open Recall Methods nrf-mdd-w-pregnant-women-may-2023.pdf
Verger, E.O., Eymard-Duvernay, S., Bahya-Batinda, D, Hanley-Cook, G.T., Argaw, A., Becquey, E., Diop, L., Gelli, A, Harris-Fry, H., Kachwaha, S., Kim, S.S., Nguyen, P.H., Saville, N.M., Tran, L.M., Zagré, R.R., Landais, E., Savy, M., Martin-Prevel, Y. & Lachat, C. 2024. Defining a dichotomous indicator for population-level assessment of dietary diversity among pregnant adolescent girls and women: A secondary analysis of quantitative 24-h recalls from rural settings in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India and Nepal. Current Developments in Nutrition, 8(1): 102053