TABLE 2.
Summary of the characteristics of the 4 types of dietary diversity indicators identified from the 161 articles included in the systematic literature review1
| Type of dietary diversity indicator | Number of studies | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Food item-based indicators (FIIs) | 56 | Simple count of the different food items consumed. Consuming the same food item 1 or more times scored 1; not consuming a food item scored 0. Most of the time, any food item was counted, except in 7 studies where only food items considered by the authors as healthy, unhealthy, or traditional were counted. |
| Food group–based indicators (FGIs) | 106 | Simple count of the different food groups² consumed. Most of the time, foods were classified in 5, 9, 10, or 12 groups. Most of the time, consuming some foods from the same group 1 or more times scored 1; not consuming a food group scored 0. In a few cases, intra-food-group diversity was taken into account (24–34). |
| Dietary guidelines–based indicators (DGIs) | 11 | Two subtypes:– Healthy Food Diversity (HFD): multiplication of the Berry index by the health value ofthe individual's diet (33–38) |
| – Count of different food groups consumed with the minimum recommended numberof servings consumed to be included in the count (39–43) | ||
| Other indicators (OIs) | 12 | Four subtypes: |
| – Indicators reflecting how the foods consumed were distributed: Berry index (35, 46, 47),QUANTIDD index (48, 49), Entropy index (50), and Dissimilarity index (46) | ||
| – Indicators calculated as a ratio between the “variety” (defined by the authors aspercentage of different food items consumed) of some food groups and the variety of other food groups (51–54) | ||
| – Composite score based on consumption of food groups and relative importance ofeach food group, with or without taking into account frequency of consumption (55, 56) | ||
| – Functional Diversity: a complex indicator reflecting the diversity in nutrient composition of species (plant, livestock, and fish) consumed (47) |
1
See Supplemental Results for more details about the “Other indicators”.
2
A food group is a collection of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications.