1. Measuring dietary outcomes with the MDD-W
indicator
Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women: The Status and the
Opportunities
Estefania Custodio, PhD, Scientific Officer, European Commission | November 30th of 2018, Bangkok
FAO-EU workshop, Bangkok 27-28th November 2018

2. Beyond Hunger and Malnutrition

3. Measuring diet and the SDGs
 Poor dietary habits have been consistently identified as one of
the leading risk factors for ill health and mortality globally over
the last 30 years.
 In 2017 poor diets were associated with nearly 1 in 5 of all
deaths*.
 Yet, diet quality is not reflected in any of the SDG indicators
*The Lancet, volume 392, issue 10159, November 10, 2018

4. Measuring diet- Dietary diversity indicators
"Gold standard" methods for dietary data collection require
exceptionally resource intensive data collection,
processing and analysis and results have commonly been
under-used.
Result of a rising demand for simple indicators to reflect
at least some aspects of diet quality
Dietary diversity indicators have undergone thorough
studies to have a nutrition meaning

5. Measuring diet- Dietary Diversity Indicators

6. The minimum dietary diversity for women of
reproductive age– MDD-W
The proportion of women 15-49 years of age who consumed food items
from at least five out of ten defined food groups the previous day or night
1. Grains, white roots and tubers, and plantains
2. Pulses (beans, peas and lentils)
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Dairy
5. Meat, poultry and fish
6. Meat, poultry and fish
7. Eggs
8. Dark green leafy vegetables
9. Other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables
10. Other fruits

7. MDD-W and SDG-2
Food SecurityNutrition

8. MDD-W and SDG-2
Target 2.1: By 2030, end
hunger and ensure access
by all people, in particular
the poor and people in
vulnerable situations,
including infants, to safe,
nutritious and sufficient
food all year round.
Target 2.2:By 2030, end all
forms of malnutrition, including
achieving, by 2025, the
internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in children
under 5 years of age, and
address the
nutritional needs of
adolescent girls,
pregnant and
lactating women and
older persons

9. MDD-W and SDG-2
Target 2.2:By 2030, end all
forms of malnutrition, including
achieving, by 2025, the
internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in
children under 5 years of
age, and address the nutritional
needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women
and older persons.

10. MDD-W is not perfect
Reflects only one dimension of diet quality
Does not reflect the quantities of nutritious foods consumed
or other dimensions like moderation or balance/quality of
macronutrients
Is not appropriate for individual screening
Should not be used as basis for dietary guidelines or
communication messages
Not single indicator is sufficient for everything

11. MDD-W: The opportunities
 Can be used for assessments of diet quality at national and
subnational levels in resource poor settings
 Suitable for integration into large-scale surveys
 Can be compared with previous assessments, so long as
survey timing accounts for seasonality and same baseline and
end line surveys are used
 It can fill the gap of a food-based indicator for use in target
setting, advocacy and impact evaluation of nutrition sensitive
actions
 Can inform on effective policy and improving diets and nutrition
of women of reproductive age.

12. Where is MDD-W data collected?
National (10)
Impact
Evaluation (21*)
Data collection
planned (30)
*Ethiopia & Zambia are under national surveys

13. Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women: The Status and the
Opportunities
FAO-EU workshop, Bangkok 27-28th November 2018
Maria Antonia Tuazon and Alexandra Tung, Nutrition and Food Systems Division, FAO
Francois Kayitakire, Joint Research Centre, EU and all participants of the workshop
Thank you