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Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) Calculator

Calculate the Household Dietary Diversity Score from 24-hour food recall data. Uses the 12-food-group HDDS framework validated for use in low-income settings.

The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) is a proxy indicator of household food access developed by FAO and FANTA. It is calculated from a simple 24-hour recall: an enumerator asks which food groups household members consumed during the previous day and night. Each food group consumed scores one point, regardless of quantity or frequency. The resulting score reflects the economic ability of a household to access a variety of foods and correlates strongly with per-capita household energy and micronutrient adequacy.

HDDS is widely used in food security monitoring programmes including FEWS NET, WFP VAM assessments, and USAID-funded nutrition surveys. It requires no laboratory equipment and can be administered in 10–15 minutes per household.

Tick each food group that any household member consumed in the past 24 hours (yesterday daytime and last night).

1. Cereals, roots and tubers
Maize, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava, potato, bread, other cereals or starchy roots 2. Vitamin A-rich vegetables and tubers
Pumpkin, carrots, squash, sweet potato with orange flesh 3. White roots, tubers and plantain
White potato, white yam, white cassava, plantain, other white starchy roots 4. Dark green leafy vegetables
Spinach, amaranth leaves, cassava leaves, kale, moringa leaves, other dark greens 5. Other vegetables
Tomatoes, onions, green beans, cucumber, pepper, eggplant, other vegetables 6. Vitamin A-rich fruits
Ripe mango, ripe papaya, dried apricots, cantaloupe, other vitamin A-rich fruits 7. Other fruits
Banana, avocado, pineapple, watermelon, citrus, other fruit not listed above 8. Organ meat
Liver, kidney, heart, other organ meats from any animal 9. Flesh meat and fish
Beef, goat, pork, poultry, fish, seafood, small dried fish 10. Eggs
Eggs from any bird (chicken, duck, quail) 11. Legumes, nuts and seeds
Beans, peas, lentils, cowpeas, peanuts, sesame, other nuts or seeds 12. Milk and dairy products
Milk, yoghurt, cheese, other dairy products

HDDS Reference Ranges

Score 0–3 — Poor dietary diversity: high risk of micronutrient deficiency

Score 4–5 — Moderate dietary diversity: some risk of inadequacy

Score 6–8 — Adequate dietary diversity

Score 9–12 — High dietary diversity: good micronutrient adequacy

Source: FAO/FANTA (2011). Dietary Diversity Score (DDS). In: Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women: A Guide for Measurement. Kennedy G, Ballard T, Dop MC. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. The 12-group HDDS framework is described in Swindale A, Bilinsky P (2006) Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) for Measurement of Household Food Access: Indicator Guide. FANTA, Washington DC.

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