The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has released new guidance on measuring coverage of food fortification. The Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT) provides standardized tools to collect, analyze and synthesize data on quality, coverage, and consumption of fortified foods in different countries and contexts. FACT also provides guidance on survey design and use in evaluation contexts.
GAIN Briefing Paper on FACT | Source: https://www.gainhealth.org/knowledge-centre/the-fortification-assessment-coverage-toolkit-fact/
Fortification of staple foods, including salt, flour, and oil, is considered a cost-effective intervention to address micronutrient malnutrition, prevent disease, and improve health for millions around the world. However, data on the coverage and impact of fortification programs is rarely available and not standardized. FACT provides nutrition stakeholders with a feasible method to collect comparable data on fortification programs.
DataDENT works with partners like GAIN to advocate for consistent and high-quality nutrition data. In early 2019, GAIN staff drafted a recommendation for adding questions about household coverage of fortified foods to the core Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) questionnaire; an effort that DataDENT helped coordinate on behalf of the nutrition community working in low and middle income countries.