Assessment of Dietary Diversity of Rural Women of Reproductive Age

Women of reproductive age (WRA) are at greater risk of health issues for which gaps in diet quality and food consumption pattern have been recognized for a long time. To overcome this situation, FAO proposed dietary diversity indicators for assessing and analyzing the nutritional situation and food consumption pattern of households, as promotion of diverse diets is considered as one of the several approaches to improve micronutrient deficiency in women of reproductive age.Therefore, the present study was conducted with an objective to assess dietary diversity of rural.The total sample consisted of 200 women of reproductive age (15 – 49 years). An interview schedule was developed for the procedure of data collection. Background information was procured pertaining to subjects and their families.Twenty four hour recall method was used to obtain the information on the food consumed and dietary diversity was measured using the (FAO, 2016) Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDDW). The data obtained were analyzed in the light of objectives by calculating frequency, percentage and mean scores. Major findings of the study indicated that majority of the women had received minimum dietary diversity with mean value 4.34 ± 0.54. The study found most of the women of reproductive age were not consuming diverse diet.