Measuring child food poverty: understanding the gap to achieving minimum dietary diversity.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The aim of this study is to analyse complementary feeding practices, to assess the extent to which minimum dietary diversity (MDD) recommendations are being met in the population studied and to study factors that influence the achievement of MDD.

Design

We pooled individual level data form the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multi Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). We apply methods from poverty measurement to identify individual gaps towards achieving MDD. We further identify food groups that separate children who achieve MDD from those who do not.

Setting

West and Central Africa.

Participants

62 257 children aged between 6 and 23 months.

Results

82·0 per cent of children do not achieve MDD and on average are lacking 2·5 out of five req

SUBMITTER: Vollmer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11822586 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature