FAO, in its commitment to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in all its forms,
promotes universal access to healthy diets. According to the joint declaration by FAO and WHO, a
healthy diet is based on four essential principles: adequacy, balance, moderation, and diversity.
Adequacy means that the diet must meet the body’s essential nutrient requirements—without
deficiencies or excesses—based on age, sex, physiological status, and level of physical activity.
Balance refers to an appropriate distribution of macronutrients to maintain a healthy body weight
and prevent disease. Moderation involves limiting the intake of dietary components that may
negatively affect health, such as free sugars, saturated fats, and sodium. Finally, diversity refers to
the variety of foods consumed within and across different food groups, increasing the likelihood of
achieving an adequate intake of vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds throughout the
life cycle.
In this context, understanding and promoting each of these principles is essential to move towards
agri-food systems that ensure the right to adequate nutrition. As part of efforts to strengthen global
monitoring of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2): Zero Hunger, FAO and UNICEF have jointly
assumed custodianship of a new official SDG indicator: Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD), which
has been initially incorporated given its readiness for global monitoring. This indicator, recently
adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission as part of the 2025 Comprehensive Review of
the SDG indicator framework, marks a milestone in measuring diet quality, especially for the most
vulnerable populations.
The MDD indicator will allow for harmonized and comparable measurement of dietary diversity
across countries in two key population groups: women of reproductive age (MDD-W) and children
(MDD-C). UNICEF will serve as the custodian agency for MDD-C, while FAO will do so for MDD-W.
The latter is a simple yes/no questionnaire that assesses whether women aged 15 to 49 have
consumed at least five out of ten defined food groups during the last 24 hours. This information,
collected through national surveys, will support more accurate monitoring of access to healthy diets,
inform public policies, and evaluate the impact of programs aimed at improving nutrition.
LOCATION AND FORMAT
The event will be held in a hybrid format, with participation at FAO’s Regional Office for RLC. Those
interested in attending the event should register on https://bit.ly/DialogoRegionalMDD
Those unable to attend in person, can follow the streaming on https://www.fao.org/americas/es
EVENT DAT AND TIME
April 10, from 11:00 to 12:30. Santiago, Chile (UTC-4)
CONTACTS
Gabriela Ayón – Analyst of Sustainable Agrifood Systems and Healthy Diets (FAO RLC)
Javiera Muñoz – Data Analyst Better Nutrition and Statistics (FAO RLC)
Paulina Bravo – Communicator for the Regional Better Nutrition Priority (FAO RLC)
