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Nutrient adequacy and dietary diversity in rural Mali: association and determinants

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 594–604 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between nutrient adequacy and dietary diversity, and to assess and compare the determinants for the two constructs in an adult population in rural Mali.

Design: Cross-sectional study assessing food intake by a validated 7-day quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Two different dietary diversity indexes were created: food variety score (FVS), a simple count of food items, and diet diversity score (DDS) a count of food groups. Mean adequacy ratio, the mean ratio of intake to recommended intake (each truncated at one) of energy and nine nutrients, was calculated as an indicator of nutrient adequacy. Information on household and individual characteristics, including demography, socioeconomic conditions and food production strategies was obtained using precoded questionnaires.

Setting: Bafoulabé district, Kayes region, Western Mali.

Subjects: In total, 502 subjects (55% women) aged 15–45 y from 319 different households.

Results: Both FVS and DDS had a positive correlation with mean adequacy ratio (MAR). Multivariate analysis (linear regression) showed that the most important factors explaining MAR was the number of milk products, vegetables and green leaves consumed, as well as sex and the number of crops produced in the household. Dietary diversity was associated with socioeconomic status, residence and age.

Conclusions: Dietary diversity is useful as an indicator of nutrient adequacy. It is important to examine how various food groups contribute to the nutrient adequacy of the diet in an area.

Sponsorship: The Norwegian Research Council and The Strømme Foundation funded the project.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the staff of Action d’Appui aux Initiatives de Développement de Bafoulabé (AIDEB) in Bafoulabé and the Strømme Foundation in Bamako for their support and cooperation. We acknowledge greatly the fieldworkers for their painstaking efforts in collecting the data. Our thanks also go to Christine Parr for her helpful input to the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Akershus University College, Lillestrøm, Norway

    L E Torheim, I Barikmo & A Oshaug

  2. Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique, Bamako, Mali

    F Ouattara

  3. Cellule de Planification et des Statistiques, Ministère de la Sante, Bamako, Mali

    M M Diarra

  4. Institut Supérieur de Formation et de Recherche Appliqué, University of Mali, Bamako, Mali

    F D Thiam

  5. Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies, Oslo, Norway

    A Hatløy

Authors
  1. L E Torheim
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  2. F Ouattara
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  3. M M Diarra
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  4. F D Thiam
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  5. I Barikmo
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  6. A Hatløy
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  7. A Oshaug
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Contributions

Guarantor: LE Torheim.

Contributors: LET planned and executed the study, analyzed the data and prepared the initial draft of the manuscript. FO, MMD and FDT participated in the planning and execution of the study and the initial data analyses. IB conducted the analysis of food and nutrient intake. AH and AO collaborated in planning the study and in obtaining funding. All co-authors participated in the reviewing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L E Torheim.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table A1.

Table a1 Associations between selected individual and households characteristics and MAR, FVS and DDSa (n=502). Mali 1997
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Torheim, L., Ouattara, F., Diarra, M. et al. Nutrient adequacy and dietary diversity in rural Mali: association and determinants. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 594–604 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601853

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