Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W)
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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-off 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.hs
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
The number of 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 of women of reproductive age (WRA) in the programme.
Representative population-based survey of women in targeted areas at baseline, mid-term, and 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
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Total Reach Indicator
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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