2.D.Proportion of children, women and girls of reproductive age who achieve a minimum acceptable diet and minimum dietary diversity

2.D Proportion of children, women and girls of reproductive age who achieve a minimum acceptable diet and minimum dietary diversity

VERSION

V1.0 - 2026.04

INDICATOR CODE

2.D

TECHNICAL OWNER

PRG-S Nutrition

INDICATOR TYPE

Corporate Level Outcome Indicator

Strategic Outcome 2. Reduced needs and enhanced resilience to withstand shocks

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS

Proportion of countries

INDICATOR DEFINITION

This indicator measures the proportion of children (6–23 months) and women and girls of reproductive age (15–49 years) who meet the criteria for both a minimum acceptable diet (MAD) and minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W). It reflects the adequacy and diversity of dietary intake among nutritionally vulnerable groups, combining meal frequency and dietary diversity dimensions.

Minimum Acceptable Diet for Children:

Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) is a composite indicator used to assess Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices among children aged 6–23 months. It combines measures of dietary diversity and feeding frequency to evaluate the adequacy of young children’s diets.

For breastfed children: MAD is achieved if they receive both the minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency for their age.
For non-breastfed children: MAD is achieved if they receive both the minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency, plus at least two milk feeds in the previous day.

Sub-Indicators for MAD

Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD): Percentage of children 6–23 months who consumed foods and beverages from ≥5 of 8 food groups in the previous day.
Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF): Percentage of children 6–23 months who ate solid, semi-solid, or soft foods (plus milk feeds for non-breastfed) at least the minimum number of times during the previous day.
Minimum Milk Feeding Frequency (MMFF): Percentage of non-breastfed children 6–23 months who had ≥2 milk feeds in the previous day.

Minimum Dietary Diversity of Women (MMD-W):

For women and girls 15–49 years, MDD-W is achieved when an individual consumes food items from at least 5 out of 10 defined food groups in the previous 24 hours. It is a food group diversity indicator that reflects one key dimension of diet quality – micronutrient adequacy – summarized across 11 micronutrients: vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, vitamin B-12, vitamin C, calcium, iron and zinc.

MANDATORY COUNTRY-LEVEL INDICATORS & INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR APR AGGREGATION

Mandatory Country level Indicator(s) composing the corporate indicator:

10. Proportion of children aged 6–23 months who receive a minimum acceptable diet (MAD)
11. Minimum diet diversity for women and girls of reproductive age (MDD-W)

Inclusion criteria for Mandatory Country Level Indicator(s):

The mandatory country level indicator is included in the aggregation of the corporate indicator under SO.2 only if all the following conditions are met

The indicator is selected against following sub-activities:

Prevention of micronutrient deficiencies (PMD)
Prevention of acute malnutrition (PREV)
Prevention of stunting (STUN)

Only combinations that that have a target set, baseline and a follow-up value will be inform global aggregation

Only CO-level indicators meeting all criteria above are eligible for aggregation.

CALCULATION & AGGREGATION
METHODOLOGY

Although this indicator conceptually combines the dietary adequacy of children (Minimum Acceptable Diet – MAD) and women and girls of reproductive age (Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women – MDD-W), it will be reported through two sub-indicators. This approach ensures alignment with global nutrition monitoring standards and allows for clearer interpretation of progress within each target group.

Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD)

Each country office conducts a representative survey among nutrition programme beneficiaries and reports the percentage of children aged 6–23 months who meet the Minimum Acceptable Diet criteria. The global MAD indicator is calculated as a weighted average of the country-level MAD percentages. Each country’s result is weighted by the total number of beneficiary children aged 6–23 months represented by the survey. This ensures that countries with larger eligible beneficiary caseloads contribute proportionally more to the global result.

MAD_global (%) =	Σᵢ₌₁ⁿ (pᵢ × Bᵢ)	× 100
	Σᵢ₌₁ⁿ Bᵢ

Where:

pᵢ : Country-level MAD proportion (reported percentage divided by 100)
Bᵢ: Number of beneficiary children aged 6–23 months represented by the survey in country
n: Number of reporting countries

Minimum Dietary Diversity of Women (MDD-W)

Each country office conducts a representative survey among nutrition programme beneficiaries and reports the percentage of women aged 15–49 years who meet the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women criteria.

The global MDD-W indicator is calculated as a weighted average of the country-level MDD-W percentages. Each country’s result is weighted by the total number of beneficiary women aged 15–49 years represented by the survey. This ensures that countries with larger eligible beneficiary caseloads contribute proportionally more to the global result.

The global MDD-W percentage is calculated as follows:

MDD-W_global (%) =	Σᵢ₌₁ⁿ (pᵢ × Bᵢ)	× 100
	Σᵢ₌₁ⁿ Bᵢ

Where:

pᵢ: Country-level MDD-W proportion (reported percentage divided by 100)
Bᵢ: Number of beneficiary women aged 15–49 years represented by the survey in country i
n: Number of reporting countries

DISAGGREGATION FOR REPORTING IN APR

Mandatory:

Minimum Acceptable Diet (Children)
Minimum Dietary Diversity (Women & Girls)

BASELINE

2025:

Proportion of children who have minimum acceptable and diverse diet: 32
Proportion of women and girls of reproductive age who have minimum acceptable and diverse diet: 44.6%

LIMITATIONS

Although data are collected from individual children, women, and girls of reproductive age, this indicator should not be interpreted as a measure of dietary quality at the individual level. Both the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) and the Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) are based on a single 24-hour recall period and do not capture day-to-day variation in food consumption. Consequently, the indicator is designed for assessing dietary adequacy at the population level among groups of women of reproductive age and children aged 6–23 months. It should not be used for individual-level assessment, screening, targeting, or clinical decision-making. Additionally, because the indicator combines measures for different population groups, results should be interpreted separately for children and for women and girls of reproductive age, as their nutritional requirements and assessment methodologies differ.