Dietary diversity as a measure of women's diet quality in resource-poor areas: results from rural Bangladesh site

In developing countries, where low-quality, monotonous grain- and tuber-based diets are the norm, the risk for micronutrient deficiencies is high, especially amongst women of reproductive age. However, despite being a global problem, data on women’s micronutrient status and the quality of women’s diets is scarce.

This study uses an existing data set with dietary intake data from 24-hour recalls to analyse the relationship between simple indicators of dietary diversity (i.e. the number of foods consumed across and within food groups over a reference period) and diet quality for women in rural Bangladesh.

Among findings and points noted are:

• micronutrient intakes were inadequate for all micronutrients, not just those that are the usual focus of public health interventions (iron/folate during pregnancy, vitamin A, and iodine)
• diets of lactating women were particularly deficient relative to their nutrient needs
• there is no reason to believe that the general picture that emerges is not more widely representative

Overall, the authors assert that a 9 and 13 dietary diversity food group indicator (with a 15g minimum consumption required) can predict the micronutrient adequacy of the diet of non-pregnant, non-lactating women of reproductive age with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. As such, the results from this paper indicate that food group diversity indicators are very promising and may be a simple and valid option for population-level assessment and for monitoring progress toward improved micronutrient intakes among women of reproductive age.