Examining and comparing nutrient intake adequacy in SPRING countries

AID-OAA-A-11-00031. The project is managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. in collaboration with Helen Keller International (HKI), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Save the Children (SC), and The Manoff Group (TMG). Nutritionists conducting dietary assessments prefer to use individual food consumption data from observed-weighed food record (OWFR) or 24 Hour Recall (24HR) surveys. However, such data are rarely available, generally not nationally representative, and of dubious external validity. In the absence of OWFR or 24HR data, two alternative data sources can be used to generate other, albeit less precise, nutrition indicators: Food Balance Sheets (FBS) and Household Consumption and Expenditures Analyses (HCES). FBS have been the principal data source for monitoring food security at a global level for decades. However, they have serious limitations, including containing data only about national food availability and not providing information about how much of the available food is consumed or by whom. Despite these shortcomings, FBS can be combined with data from food composition tables to estimate national nutrient availability. When combined with information about the size and composition of a country's population and age- and sex-specific physiological requirements, FBS can be used to generate estimates of a country's total nutrient requirements. The research objectives of the SPRING Project are to examine and compare nutrient intake adequacy in SPRING countries. The objectives include determining how adequate nutrient intake is for those living in SPRING countries, comparing the nutrient intake estimates of FBS, HCES, and 24HR surveys, and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of using FBS and/or HCES in the absence of OWFR or 24HR data. The project aims to provide a simple, nationwide dietary assessment indicator of the adequacy or inadequacy of nutrient availability in a country. The methods used in the SPRING Project involve analyzing HCES data, which are routinely conducted, nationally representative surveys that contain a mixture of food consumption and expenditure data. HCES provide information about household accessibility of nutrients and allow for the analysis of differences in nutrient accessibility by subnational geographic area, place of residence, and income levels. The data processing requirements of HCES are substantially more involved and resource-intensive than those of FBS.