Data visualization is widely used in nutrition to summarize and communicate nutrition data. There are several aspects of data visualization that make it a viable strategy to neatly collate information and (hopefully) provoke action: (1) humans more rapidly process visual information compared to text; (2) design principles can be applied to attune with humans’ short-term memory; and (3) research has…
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Together for Nutrition: West African Data Forum Call to Action
In February 2020, DataDENT in collaboration Transform Nutrition West Africa (led by International Food Policy Research Institute), UNICEF, Countdown to 2030, CDC, WHO, WAHO, and NIPN co-convened Together for Nutrition: West African Data Forum. The convening had the following objectives: 1. Share national and regional achievements and challenges in operationalizing the data value chain for nutrition 2. Strengthen connectivity, coordination,…
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Visualizing nutrition data with Tableau Public
“Making better figures: visualising data for different audiences” skills building session from the Transform Nutrition West Africa Together for Nutrition West African Data Forum February 2020 in Senegal Tableau is a popular data visualization program used by individuals in diverse fields. There are several high-profile examples of Tableau used to visualize nutrition data such as UNICEF/WHO/World Bank’s Joint Child Malnutrition…
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Data for Nutrition webinar – New data for nutrition: Updates to the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)-8 Questionnaires
Over the past several months, DataDENT has been facilitating the launch of the Data for Nutrition (DfN) Community of Practice. DfN provides community members with opportunities to share knowledge, experience, evidence, and questions related to how we can strengthen the nutrition data value chain at all levels—global, regional, national, sub-national, institutional. Currently in a soft launch phase, DfN hosted its…
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The Case of the Missing Data
The Global Nutrition Report (GNR) is one of the most widely used sources of nutrition data. The GNR reports on progress against global nutrition targets in 194 countries. In October 2019, GNR launched updated Country Nutrition Profiles. Note: In May 2020, GNR launched the 2020 report. The list of “no data” countries in the 2020 report matches the list shared in…
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Overview of new nutrition questions in the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) core questionnaires
The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program just released the new DHS model questionnaires for round 8 (2018-2023). We previously shared on the blog how DHS and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) are main sources of nationally-representative maternal, newborn, child health, and nutrition data. The four DHS core questionnaires (household, woman, man, and biomarker) will be used globally, and…
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Overview of WHO’s Essential nutrition actions: mainstreaming nutrition through the life-course
This week at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), UN Member States adopted a landmark declaration on universal health coverage (UHC). Improving integration of nutrition interventions within health services is a key component of UHC and tackling malnutrition across all life stages. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines UHC as all people and populations having access to primary health care…
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Quantifying the nutrition transition among children in low- and middle-income countries
© 2012 Akintunde Akinleye/NURHI, Courtesy of Photoshare Over 25 years ago, Dr. Barry Popkin described a global “nutrition transition” – a shift of diets high in fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats to diets high in sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods [1]. This nutrition transition was an “emerging crisis” for low-income countries and linked to changes in demography, epidemiology, and…
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Recommendations to update nutrition content of the Demographic and Health Surveys
Over the past five months, Data for Decisions to Expand Nutrition Transformation (DataDENT) has been working with a diverse group of lead authors and technical reviewers from the nutrition community to develop a set of ten recommendations for the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)-8 core questionnaire. We’re excited to share that the recommendations have been submitted to the DHS Program’s…
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Release of Technical Consultation on Measuring Nutrition in Population-Based Household Surveys and Associated Facility Assessments Meeting Report
The full meeting report, presentations, and working group notes from the Technical Consultation on Measuring Nutrition in Population-Based Household Surveys and Associated Facility Assessments (September 19-20, 2018) are now available on the DataDENT website here.