DDS and FVS were used to assess dietary diversity and food variety. Since DDS and FVS are supposed to reflect the probability of micronutrient adequacy of the diet, the fats and oils, condiments, sugar and wine data, which do not contribute to the essential micronutrient density of the diet, were not included in the DDS and FVS calculation, as per the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines [13 ].
DDS was defined as the number of food groups consumed over a period of three days of dietary recall. According to the 2016 Chinese Dietary Guideline [6 ], with consideration of the most common food groups consumed for Chinese children, the following nine food groups were included to construct DDS: (1) cereals, potatoes and starches; (2) fresh vegetables and pure vegetable juice (excluding pickled vegetables); (3) fresh fruits and pure fruit juice (excluding preserved fruits); (4) legumes and nuts; (5) meats (including pork, beef, poultry and organs); (6) fish (including seafood, freshwater fish and aquatic products); (7) eggs; (8) milk; and (9) moderation foods (including sweet or oily cookies, salty snacks, cakes, western fast foods, puffed food, cream and beverages). DDS was calculated by summing the number of unique food groups consumed by the child during the survey days. One point was awarded to each food group if a participant consumed any food in any of the above groups. Consuming different food items from the same group would not be counted repeatedly. An all-inclusive DDS calculation method was used without a minimum intake for the food group. The total score was the sum of the scores for the nine food groups and the maximum score possible was 9. A DDS below the recommendation was defined as a score lower than 8, in line with the Chinese Dietary Guideline (CDG) [6 ].
As indicated in Fernandez’s study, overall food variety, and food variety in certain food groups, could predict nutritional status in children [16 (link)]. We further assessed food variety by using an overall FVS (OFVS), FVS of the fruit and vegetable group (FVS_FV) and FVS of the animal food group (FVS_AF). OFVS was assigned based on the total number of food items of the whole diet consumed during the survey days. One point was given to OFVS for each consumed food item. Scores were assigned to FVS_FV and FVS_AF with the same method. Animal foods were defined as meat, fish, egg and milk. The three FVSs and DDS were further divided into low, medium and high category according to their tertiles.
DDS was defined as the number of food groups consumed over a period of three days of dietary recall. According to the 2016 Chinese Dietary Guideline [6 ], with consideration of the most common food groups consumed for Chinese children, the following nine food groups were included to construct DDS: (1) cereals, potatoes and starches; (2) fresh vegetables and pure vegetable juice (excluding pickled vegetables); (3) fresh fruits and pure fruit juice (excluding preserved fruits); (4) legumes and nuts; (5) meats (including pork, beef, poultry and organs); (6) fish (including seafood, freshwater fish and aquatic products); (7) eggs; (8) milk; and (9) moderation foods (including sweet or oily cookies, salty snacks, cakes, western fast foods, puffed food, cream and beverages). DDS was calculated by summing the number of unique food groups consumed by the child during the survey days. One point was awarded to each food group if a participant consumed any food in any of the above groups. Consuming different food items from the same group would not be counted repeatedly. An all-inclusive DDS calculation method was used without a minimum intake for the food group. The total score was the sum of the scores for the nine food groups and the maximum score possible was 9. A DDS below the recommendation was defined as a score lower than 8, in line with the Chinese Dietary Guideline (CDG) [6 ].
As indicated in Fernandez’s study, overall food variety, and food variety in certain food groups, could predict nutritional status in children [16 (link)]. We further assessed food variety by using an overall FVS (OFVS), FVS of the fruit and vegetable group (FVS_FV) and FVS of the animal food group (FVS_AF). OFVS was assigned based on the total number of food items of the whole diet consumed during the survey days. One point was given to OFVS for each consumed food item. Scores were assigned to FVS_FV and FVS_AF with the same method. Animal foods were defined as meat, fish, egg and milk. The three FVSs and DDS were further divided into low, medium and high category according to their tertiles.
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