Sustainability Language

Human Rights & Social Sustainability

Dietary diversity

The variety of food groups consumed, used by FAO as a validated proxy for micronutrient adequacy — most prominently in the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women indicator.

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Definition

Dietary diversity is the number of distinct food groups an individual consumes over a reference period, serving as a proxy for diet quality and micronutrient adequacy. The FAO-supported Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) indicator counts consumption from ten food groups over the previous 24 hours; consuming at least five groups is a validated proxy for better micronutrient intake adequacy among adult women in low- and middle-income countries, with extensions validated for children and adolescents.

References

Overview

What it means

A simple, survey-friendly measure that turns "what did you eat yesterday?" into a population-level nutrition indicator.

How it is used

MDD-W is tracked in food-security, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and development programmes, and used to monitor SDG-linked diet-quality outcomes.

Why it matters

Dietary diversity connects agricultural biodiversity, food systems and human nutrition in a single measurable indicator.

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