Nutrition is central to the health, well-being, and economic development of individuals, communities, and nations. Comprehensive and credible data are needed to capture the current state of nutrition and track the implementation of nutrition interventions. The DHS Program is a leading source of nutrition data in low and middle-income countries. The DHS Program has standard […]
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign is back in action for 2019 under the theme “Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape!” This year, The DHS Program is highlighting sexual and physical violence indicators, as well as help seeking behavior in Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Benin, and Mali. Click on a graph […]
✴ New
♲ Revised
Women of reproductive
age and pregnancy
Infants
Young children
Growth monitoring for children is the second most common nutrition intervention reported by WHO member states. The Woman’s Questionnaire will now collect this information for comparable data at the national and sub-national levels.
The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is a standard measure of moderate and severe food insecurity. It is an indicator that countries use to measure their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger (Target 2.1). There are plans to add the FIES as an optional module that countries can include in a DHS survey.
Given the global increase in overweight and obesity among children, the new questionnaire will collect information on unhealthy food and sugary drink consumption. These questions will help countries understand the extent of the problem and provide evidence to guide country programs and policies.
The Woman’s Questionnaire now includes Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women to assess the micronutrient adequacy of women’s diets and their intake of healthy and unhealthy foods. This fills an important data gap in women’s diet quality. Countries will be able to assess women’s diets at the national and sub-national levels and take appropriate action.
Daily iron supplementation during pregnancy reduces the risk of maternal anemia and low birth weight and preterm births. The DHS survey already collects information on women’s consumption of iron supplements during pregnancy, but now the recall period has been reduced from 5 to 3 years. There is a new question about the source of iron supplements, so countries can understand where women access iron supplementation.
Information on iron-containing supplements for children is also collected in DHS surveys. This question has been updated to align with WHO guidelines on suggested schemes for iron delivery. The recall period has been increased from 7 days to the last 12 months, and the type of iron vehicle will now be recorded (i.e. multiple micronutrient powders or iron pills/syrups).
Food or cash assistance programs for pregnant women are implemented in many countries around the world to improve maternal and child nutrition and other welfare outcomes. For the first time in the Woman’s Questionnaire, women will be asked to recall if they received food or cash assistance during pregnancy in the last 3 years.
Nutrition counseling is an important intervention during antenatal care, postnatally, and throughout early childhood. The Woman’s Questionnaire now includes questions on nutrition counseling during antenatal care, breastfeeding counseling during antenatal care, and nutrition counseling for young children. With this information, countries will be able to track the coverage and impact of nutrition counseling interventions. The reference period is 3 years to improve women’s recall and reduce survey burden.
Anthropometry measurement (height and weight) is a core component of DHS surveys that is used to generate indicators on nutritional status. The Biomarker Questionnaire now includes questions on clothing and hairstyle interference on measurements for both women and children for improved interpretation.