Measuring dietary diversity in rural Burkina Faso: comparison of a 1-day and a 3-day dietary recall.
OBJECTIVE
To compare dietary diversity scores measured over a 1-day and a 3-day period, and to assess their relationships with socio-economic characteristics and the nutritional status of rural African women.


METHODS
A qualitative dietary recall allowed calculation of a dietary diversity score (DDS; number of food groups consumed out of a total of nine). Body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BFP) were used to assess the nutritional status of women.


METHODS
A representative sample of 550 mothers in north-east Burkina Faso.


RESULTS
The DDS increased from 3.5 to 4.4 when calculated from a 1-day or a 3-day recall (P < 0.0001), although for the latter the DDS was affected by memory bias. The DDS calculated from a 1-day recall was higher when a market day occurred during the recall period. Both scores were linked to the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of the women. Women in the lowest DDS tertile calculated from the 1-day recall had a mean BMI of 20.5 kg m-(2) and 17.7% of them were underweight, versus 21.6 kg m (-2) and 3.5% for those in the highest tertile (P = 0.0003 and 0.0007, respectively). The DDS calculated from the 1-day recall was also linked to mean BFP; all these links remained significant after adjustment for confounders. For the 3-day period, no such relationships were found to be significant after adjustment.


CONCLUSIONS
The DDS calculated from a 1-day dietary recall was sufficient to predict the women's nutritional status. In such a context attention should be paid to market days.
Savy
M
M
Research Unit 106 Nutrition, Food, Societies (WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, BP 64501, F-34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. Mathilde.Savy@mpl.ird.fr
Martin-Prével
Y
Y
Traissac
P
P
Delpeuch
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002050:Burkina Faso; D004032:Diet; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors