It is appropriate to measure Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W) when a simple proxy indicator is needed to describe one important dimension of women’s diet quality – micronutrient adequacy – in national and subnational assessments.

It is appropriate use MDD-W to compare with previous assessments so long as survey timing accounts for seasonality, as seasonal differences can affect the relationship between food group diversity and micronutrient adequacy.

The indicator may be useful in advocacy and policy settings, when a dichotomous (yes/no) indicator is often needed.