Exploring the FAO Minimum Dietary Diversity Indicator as a Suitable Proxy of Micronutrient Adequacy in Men and Women Across Reproductive and Non-reproductive Ages in 8 Latin American Countries.

This article evaluates the applicability of the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W), a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicator originally designed for women of reproductive age (WRA), to predict micronutrient adequacy in men, WRA, and women of nonreproductive age (WNRA) aged 15 to 65 years in urban populations across eight Latin American countries. Using dietary data from 9,216 participants in the Latin American Study on Nutrition and Health (ELANS), the study found that a cutoff of consuming at least five of ten defined food groups effectively predicted adequate micronutrient intake (Mean Probability of Adequacy ≥0.70) across all groups. The Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was positively associated with micronutrient adequacy for men, WRA, and WNRA, supporting the use of the MDD-W cutoff as a low-cost proxy for assessing micronutrient intake beyond its original target population. These findings suggest that promoting dietary diversity can be a useful strategy for improving micronutrient adequacy in diverse urban Latin American populations, although the indicator does not capture other aspects of diet quality or chronic disease risk.