TABLE 2.
The 29 food groups of the DQQ and rationale for their inclusion and the level of disaggregation.
| Food groups1 | Source and rationale for disaggregation beyond the aggregate food groups used in MDD-W and IYCF indicator calculation | |
|---|---|---|
| Grains, white roots and tubers, and plantains | MDD-W [12] | |
| 1 | Foods made from grains | Cognitive ease, more manageable questions; disaggregated in MDD-W example questionnaire [12] |
| 2 | White roots, tubers, and plantains | |
| 3 | Whole grain foods | Globally recommended for protection of health against NCDs [27] |
| 4 | Pulses/legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) | MDD-W [12] |
| 5 | Nuts and seeds | MDD-W [12] |
| Milk and milk products | MDD-W [12] | |
| 6 | Fluid milk | 1) Cognitive ease, more manageable questions, 2) alignment with disaggregation in WHO and UNICEF 2021 [8], and 3) differential environmental impacts |
| 7 | Cheese | |
| 8 | Yogurt | |
| Meat, poultry, and fish | MDD-W [12] | |
| 9 | Processed meats | 1) Cognitive ease, more manageable questions; recommended disaggregation in MDD-W example questionnaire [12], 2) differential health impacts, 3) differential environmental impacts, 4) information of possible interest to data users, as the food system determinants of each subgroup differ greatly |
| 10 | Unprocessed red meat (ruminant) | |
| 11 | Unprocessed red meat (nonruminant) | |
| 12 | Poultry | |
| 13 | Fish and seafood | |
| 14 | Eggs | MDD-W [12] |
| 15 | Dark green leafy vegetables | MDD-W [12] Note: in the DQQ, this food group is sometimes asked with 2 questions to capture all common items in the food group, which are then aggregated at the analytical stage. |
| Other vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables | MDD-W [12] | |
| 16 | Vitamin A-rich orange vegetables | 1) Cognitive ease, more manageable questions; disaggregated in MDD-W example questionnaire [12], 2) used separately in indicators on total vegetable consumption, and total fruit consumption |
| 17 | Vitamin A-rich fruits | |
| 18 | Other vegetables (i.e., vegetables that are not orange or dark green leafy) | MDD-W [12] Note: in the DQQ, this food group is sometimes asked 2 questions to capture all common items in the food group, which are then aggregated at the analytical stage. |
| Other fruits | MDD-W [12] | |
| 19 | Citrus | 1) Easier to capture all common items if disaggregated into 2 questions, 2) indicators with 3 instead of 2 fruit subgroups proved to have a stronger correlation with total fruit intake [13], and 3) citrus is an easy-to-identify subgroup, common in all countries, and has been suggested to have a unique role in NCD prevention [14]. |
| 20 | Other fruits (i.e., fruits that are not citrus or vitamin A-rich) | Note: in the DQQ, this food group is sometimes asked with 2 questions to capture all common items in the food group, which are then aggregated at the analytical stage. |
| Sweet beverages | WHO and UNICEF 2021 [8], FAO 2021 [12] | |
| 21 | Sweet tea/coffee/cocoa | 1) alignment with disaggregation in the example questionnaire of WHO and UNICEF 2021 and 2) indicators with 3 sweet beverage subgroups proved to have a stronger correlation with free sugar intake than if the groups are aggregated [13] |
| 22 | Fruit juice and fruit-flavored drinks | |
| 23 | Soft drinks (sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks) | |
| Sweet foods | WHO and UNICEF 2021 [8], FAO 2021 [12] | |
| 24 | Baked/grain-based sweets | 1) Easier to capture all common items if disaggregated into 2 questions and 2) indicators with 2 sweet food subgroups proved to have a stronger correlation with free sugar intake than if the groups are aggregated [13] |
| 25 | Other sweets | |
| Fried and salty foods | WHO and UNICEF 2021 [8], FAO 2021 [12] | |
| 26 | Packaged ultraprocessed salty snacks | 1) Easier to capture all common items if disaggregated into subquestions; FAO 2021 suggests collecting these disaggregated food groups along with MDD-W [12]; 2) indicators with 4 salty/fried snacks subgroups proved to have a stronger correlation with ultraprocessed foods and WHO recommendations than if the subgroups are aggregated [13], 3) information of possible interest to data users, as the food system determinants of each subgroup differ |
| 27 | Instant noodles | |
| 28 | Deep-fried foods | |
| 29 | Fast food |