Systematic review of metrics used to characterize dietary nutrient supply from household consumption and expenditure surveys
Abstract Objective: To review existing publications using Household Consumption & Expenditure Survey (HCES) data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply to (1) describe scope of available literature, (2) identify the metrics reported and parameters used to construct these metrics, (3) summarize comparisons between estimates derived from HCES and individual dietary assessment data, and (4) explore the demographic and socioeconomic sub-groups used to characterize risks of nutrient inadequacy. Design: This study is a systematic review of publications identified from online databases published between 2000 to 2019 that used HCES food consumption data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply. Further publications were identified by “snowballing” the references of included database-identified publications. Setting: Publications using data from low- and lower middle income countries Results: In total, 58 publications were included. Three metrics were reported that characterized household dietary nutrient supply: apparent nutrient intake per adult-male equivalent per day (n=35), apparent nutrient intake per capita per day (n=24), and nutrient density (n=5). Nutrient intakes were generally overestimated using HCES food consumption data, with several studies finding sizeable discrepancies compared to intake estimates based on individual dietary assessment methods. Sub-group analyses predominantly focused on measuring variation in household dietary nutrient supply according to socioeconomic position and geography. Conclusion: HCES data are increasingly being used to assess diets across populations. More research is needed to inform the development of a framework to guide the use of and qualified interpretation of dietary assessments based on these data.