Difference between revisions of "Dietary Diversity Questionnaire for Women"

Latest revision as of 01:12, 28 October 2019

Source: blog.worldfishcenter.org

Instructions for Applying a Dietary Diversity Questionnaire

The dietary diversity questionnaire is to be applied at individual level to for example women of reproductive age. The data is to be collected through a face-to-face interview with preferably the person who is responsible for preparation of meals. She is asked to recall the foods used during the previous 24 hours (so-called 24-h recall survey). As the meals have to be ‘converted’ into food groups for registration the questionnaire should be applied by an interviewer with substantial knowledge about food and nutrition. It is important that interviewer verifies first if the ‘reference day’ for registering the foods/meals consumed can be considered as an average. He/she should check whether the meals were different due to a celebration, the weekend, illness, or other special event or circumstances. If so, an earlier ‘more average day’ should be identified for the 24-hour recall. As for the overall timing in the case of a baseline it is important to take into account duration and frequency of lean periods. The questionnaire should preferably be applied during lean period and when repeated for evaluation purposes it should be applied during the same period of the year.

Questions

During a face-to-face interview the female responsible for the meals at household level is asked:

• Did you have breakfast yesterday (or during another reference day last week)?

1=yes

2=No

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

The interviewer should ask for which ingredients were used and register all different ingredients included in the meal (whenever the quantity is > 15 g per serving). On the spot the interviewer has to register per meal which foods have been consumed by ticking the related food group from for example the list of 11 different food groups shown below.

Food Group	Register 1 if consumed during the meal
1. All starchy staple foods
2. beans and peas (including soybeans and products)
3. nuts and seeds
4. dairy
5. flesh foods (meat and fish)
6. eggs
7. Vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables
8. Other vitamin A rich vegetables and fruits
9. other vegetables
10. other vegetables
11. oils and fats

* Total is the Dietary Diversity Score

• Did you consume anything in between breakfast and lunch?

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

The interviewer should ask for which ingredients were used and register all different ingredients included in the meal (whenever the quantity is > 15 g per serving). On the spot the interviewer has to register per meal which foods have been consumed by ticking the related food group from for example the list of 11 different food groups shown below.

Food Group	Register 1 if consumed during the indicated period
1. All starchy staple foods
2. beans and peas (including soybeans and products)
3. nuts and seeds
4. dairy
5. flesh foods (meat and fish)
6. eggs
7. Vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables
8. Other vitamin A rich vegetables and fruits
9. other vegetables
10. other vegetables
11. oils and fats

* Total is the Dietary Diversity Score

• Did you have lunch?

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

Use form, above

• Did you consume anything in between lunch and dinner?

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

Use form, above

• Did you have dinner?

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

Use form, above

• Did you consume anything after dinner?

If yes please describe the foods that you ate or drank

Use form, above

For the calculation of the Dietary Diversity Score the frequency of consumption (as well as quantity) is not taken into consideration. In order to get the dietary diversity score per 24 hours the food groups ticked for one or more of the meals/snacks have to be added, which will result in a figure between 0 – 11, or more depending on the total number of food groups included in the survey.

Food Group	Register 1 if consumed during the indicated period of 24 hours.
1. All starchy staple foods
2. beans and peas (including soybeans and products)
3. nuts and seeds
4. dairy
5. flesh foods (meat and fish)
6. eggs
7. Vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables
8. Other vitamin A rich vegetables and fruits
9. other vegetables
10. other vegetables
In addition, ICCO recommends the following food group 11. oils and fats

* Total is the Dietary Diversity Score

Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women of reproductive age 15-45: the threshold is 5 food groups out of 10.

Using Akvo FLOW tool for registering Dietary Diversity

ICCO has successfully used the Akvo FLOW tool for gathering and processing Dietary Diversity Data. To facilitate registering we have decided to have the interviewer tick the food groups per meal on the mobile device. This calculation can be built into the Akvo FLOW tool.

Acknowledgements

• ICCO