Dietary Variation among Children Meeting and Not Meeting Minimum Dietary Diversity: An Empirical Investigation of Food Group Consumption Patterns among 73,036 Children in India

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition 2020-10, Vol.150 (10), p.2818-2824
• Main Authors: Beckerman-Hsu, Jacob P, Kim, Rockli, Sharma, Smriti, Subramanian, SV
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast; Breast milk; Child; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Children; Childrens health; Community and International Nutrition; Consumption patterns; Dairy products; Deprivation; Diet; Diet Surveys; Dietary Proteins; Eggs; Empirical analysis; Feeding Behavior; Food; Food - classification; Food consumption; Food groups; Fruit; Fruits; geographic variation; Grain; Humans; India; infant and young child feeding practices; Legumes; Milk; Minimum Dietary Diversity; Nutrition; nutritional needs assessment; Nuts; Proteins; Retinene; Roots; Tubers; Vegetables; Vitamin A
• ISSN: 0022-3166; 1541-6100
• DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxaa223

Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) is a widely used indicator of adequate dietary micronutrient density for children 6–23 mo old. MDD food-group data remain underutilized, despite their potential for further informing nutrition programs and policies. We aimed to describe the diets of children meeting MDD and not meeting MDD in India using food group data, nationally and subnationally. Food group data for children 6–23 mo old (n = 73,036) from the 2015–16 National Family Health Survey in India were analyzed. Per WHO standards, children consuming >5 of the following food groups in the past day or night met MDD: breast milk; grains, roots, or tubers; legumes or nuts; dairy; flesh foods; eggs; vitamin A–rich fruits and vegetables; and other fruits and vegetables. Children not meeting MDD consumed