Assessing bio-diverse foods in dietary intake surveys-a case study considering random selected samples

Abstract

This survey is based on expressing diet diversity indicators such as the diet diversity score (DDS) or food variety score as a reflection for dietary quality and measure the diversity of unique food groups and food items consumed, respectively. During our approach the questionnaires conducted in the period of 2022 and 2023 the DDS for women was a count of the total number of food groups consumed from a list of 10: (i) grains, white roots and tubers, and plantains; (ii) pulses; (iii) nuts and seeds; (iv) dairy; (v) meat, poultry, and fish; (vi) eggs; (vii) dark-green leafy vegetables; (viii) other vitamin A-rich vegetables and fruits; (ix) other vegetables; and (x) other fruits. For children, a seven food-group classification was used, including the following: (i) grains, white roots and tubers, and plantains; (ii) legumes, nuts, and seeds; (iii) dairy; (iv) meat, poultry, and fish; (v) eggs; (vi) vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables; and (vii) other fruits and vegetables. Following references, a 15-g minimum quantity consumed was considered as a cutoff for species inclusion in the DDS for women but not for children. The questionnaire considered 271 adult woman and 233 children.  The Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) was used as a cutoff for higher nutrient adequacy and refers to a minimum of five and four food groups for women and children, respectively. The results shows that >50% of adult woman’s have value of dietary species richness lower than 0.5, while in case of children’s the average value was slightly higher (0.52).