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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. 

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Nutrition, Diets, and Health

Rock Zagré

Research Analyst

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Bio

Rock Romaric Zagré is a Research Analyst in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, based in Dakar. He works on organization, cleaning, manipulation, and analysis of large household datasets and assists with the development and implementation of quantitative surveys, including questionnaire development, field team training, and development of software applications for recording interview responses on tablet computers. He has supervised fieldwork in rural areas of Burkina Faso, Senegal, and other countries. Using state-of-the-art indicators and methods, he collaborates with the research team in the analysis of survey data, including extensive agriculture, diet, and nutrition data. He also collaborates and communicates with implementing partners.

Rock has advanced STATA skills, including programming, and experience in the use of many data entry and CAPI software packages. In addition, he has coauthored scientific manuscripts published in the Journal of Nutrition, Maternal & Child Nutrition, and Current Developments in Nutrition.

Before joining IFPRI, Rock worked as a statistician at the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research-Office of Macroeconomic Analysis (ISRA-BAME). He was trained as a statistical and economic engineer at the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Analyse Economique (ENSAE) in Dakar, Senegal, after receiving his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Languages: Mooré, Dioula, French, English

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Publications

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Journal Article

Low Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) among adolescents in Vietnam is due to inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables rather than high consumption of unhealthy foods

2024
Nguyen, Phuong; Fretes, Gabriela; Tran, Lan M.; Zagre, Rock H.; Le Port, Agnes; Maasen, Kim; Talsma, Elise; Truong, Mai T.; Hoang, Nga T.; Brouwer, Inge D.
…more de Brauw, Alan; Ruel, Marie T.; Leroy, Jef L.
Details

Low Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) among adolescents in Vietnam is due to inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables rather than high consumption of unhealthy foods

Objectives: Rapid urbanization coupled with a nutrition transition has catalyzed significant shifts in lifestyle and diets in mega-cities around the world, but the impacts on adolescent diets are poorly understood. This study aims to fill this gap, comparing diet quality (measured by the Global Diet Quality Score, GDQS) and adequacy of micronutrient intakes among adolescents in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas of Vietnam. Methods: We collected data on adolescents (11-19 y) from low-income neighborhoods in urban (n=868), peri-urban (n=937), and rural (n=1056) areas and assessed dietary intake using multi-pass 24-hour recalls (15% repeated measures). We classified foods consumed into 25 GDQS food groups (score 0-49; GDQS healthy (+): 0-32; unhealthy (-): 0-17), with a higher score reflecting a lower risk of poor diet quality. Nutrient intakes were derived using food composition tables; and micronutrient probability of adequacy (PA) was calculated using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) method. Differences in diet quality and adequacy by residence were compared using ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests. Results: GDQS+ was low (6.6-7.1 over 32 points) while GDQS- was ∼11 over 17 points across the three areas. The risk of poor diet quality was slightly higher in rural (23.4%) than peri-urban (18.5%) and urban areas (17.1%), and was driven by low consumption of healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, and eggs) rather than excessive consumption of unhealthy foods. Refined grains and baked goods were universally consumed, but sweets, ice cream, and sugar-sweetened beverages were consumed by 20% or less of our sample. Consumption of high-fat dairy (32.9%) and red meat (74%) was higher in urban compared to rural areas. The PA of micronutrient intakes was low (< 0.5) for most micronutrients except iron, zinc and vitamin C and mean PA was very low (0.32-0.35). Conclusions: Diet quality among Vietnamese adolescents is generally poor across residential areas, mostly due to inadequate consumption of healthy foods. The very low PA for micronutrients across all three areas is concerning. Efforts are needed to stimulate increased consumption of healthy foods, to reduce consumption of red meat and replace high-fat dairy with low-fat options, and to maintain a low consumption of other unhealthy foods.

Year published

2024

Authors

Nguyen, Phuong; Fretes, Gabriela; Tran, Lan M.; Zagre, Rock H.; Le Port, Agnes; Maasen, Kim; Talsma, Elise; Truong, Mai T.; Hoang, Nga T.; Brouwer, Inge D.; de Brauw, Alan; Ruel, Marie T.; Leroy, Jef L.

Citation

Nguyen, Phuong H.; Fretes, Gabriela; Tran, Lan M.; Zagre, Rock H.; Le Port, Agnes; Maasen, Kim; et al. Low Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) among adolescents in Vietnam is due to inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables rather than high consumption of unhealthy foods. Current Developments in Nutrition 8(Supplement 2): 102729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.102729

Country/Region

Vietnam

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Adolescents; Diet Quality; Food Consumption; Fruits; Vegetables

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.102729 Source record

Project

Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Defining a dichotomous indicator for population-level assessment of dietary diversity among pregnant adolescent girls and women: A secondary analysis of quantitative 24-h recalls from rural settings in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, and Nepal

2024
Verger, Eric O.; Eymard-Duvernay, Sabrina; Bahya-Batinda, Dang; Hanley-Cook, Giles T.; Argaw, Alemayehu; Becquey, Elodie; Diop, Loty; Gelli, Aulo; Harris-Fry, Helen; Kachwaha, Shivani
…more Kim, Sunny S.; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Saville, Naomi M.; Tran, Lan Mai; Zagré, Rock Romaric; Landais, Edwige; Savy, Mathilde; Martin-Prevel, Yves; Lachat, Carl
Details

Defining a dichotomous indicator for population-level assessment of dietary diversity among pregnant adolescent girls and women: A secondary analysis of quantitative 24-h recalls from rural settings in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, and Nepal

Background The Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W) indicator was validated as a proxy of micronutrient adequacy among nonpregnant women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). At that time, indeed, there was insufficient data to validate the indicator among pregnant women, who face higher micronutrient requirements. Objective This study aimed to validate a minimum food group consumption threshold, out of the 10 food groups used to construct MDD-W, to be used as a population-level indicator of higher micronutrient adequacy among pregnant women aged 15–49 y in LMICs. Methods We used secondary quantitative 24-h recall data from 6 surveys in 4 LMICs (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, and Nepal, total n = 4909). We computed the 10-food group Women’s Dietary Diversity Score (WDDS-10) and calculated the mean probability of adequacy (MPA) of 11 micronutrients. Linear regression models were fitted to assess the associations between WDDS-10 and MPA. Sensitivity, specificity, and proportion of individuals correctly classified were used to assess the performance of MDD-W in predicting an MPA of >0.60. Results In the pooled sample, median values (interquartile range) of WDDS-10 and MPA were 3 (1) and 0.20 (0.34), respectively, whereas the proportion of pregnant women with an MPA of >0.60 was 9.6%. The WDDS-10 was significantly positively associated with MPA in each survey. Although the acceptable food group consumption threshold varied between 4 and 6 food groups across surveys, the threshold of 5 showed the highest performance in the pooled sample with good sensitivity (62%), very good specificity (81%), and percentage of correctly classified individuals (79%). Conclusions The WDDS-10 is a good predictor of dietary micronutrient adequacy among pregnant women aged 15–49 y in LMICs. Moreover, the threshold of 5 or more food groups for the MDD-W indicator may be extended to all women of reproductive age, regardless of their physiologic status. Corrigendum to ‘Defining a Dichotomous Indicator for Population-Level Assessment of Dietary Diversity Among Pregnant Adolescent Girls and Women: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.103766

Year published

2024

Authors

Verger, Eric O.; Eymard-Duvernay, Sabrina; Bahya-Batinda, Dang; Hanley-Cook, Giles T.; Argaw, Alemayehu; Becquey, Elodie; Diop, Loty; Gelli, Aulo; Harris-Fry, Helen; Kachwaha, Shivani; Kim, Sunny S.; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Saville, Naomi M.; Tran, Lan Mai; Zagré, Rock Romaric; Landais, Edwige; Savy, Mathilde; Martin-Prevel, Yves; Lachat, Carl

Citation

Verger, Eric O; Becquey, Elodie; Diop, Loty; Gelli, Aulo; Kim, Sunny S.; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Zagré, Rock R.; et al. 2023. Defining a dichotomous indicator for population-level assessment of dietary diversity among pregnant adolescent girls and women: A secondary analysis of quantitative 24-h recalls from rural settings in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, and Nepal. Current Developments in Nutrition 8(1): 102053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.102053

Country/Region

Bangladesh; Burkina Faso; India; Nepal

Keywords

Southern Asia; Western Africa; Dietary Diversity; Pregnant Adolescents; Pregnant Women; Women; Trace Elements

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.102053 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Intensified nutrition interventions in antenatal care services increased consumption of iron and folic acid supplements and early breastfeeding practices in Burkina Faso: Results of a cluster-randomized program evaluation

2023Kim, Sunny S.; Zagré, Rock Romaric; Ouédraogo, Césaire T.; Sununtnasuk, Celeste; Ganaba, Rasmané; Zafimanjaka, Maurice G.; Tharaney, Manisha; Sanghvi, Tina; Menon, Purnima
Details

Intensified nutrition interventions in antenatal care services increased consumption of iron and folic acid supplements and early breastfeeding practices in Burkina Faso: Results of a cluster-randomized program evaluation

Background: Alive & Thrive supported the Government of Burkina Faso to strengthen the provision of iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation and interpersonal counseling on maternal nutrition and breastfeeding through antenatal care (ANC) services and community-based contacts in two regions. Objectives: We assessed the impacts of intensified nutrition interventions during ANC compared with standard ANC services on intervention coverage and maternal nutrition practices. Methods: A cluster-randomized evaluation compared 40 health center catchment areas in intervention areas to 40 in control areas. Repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2019 and 2021 (960 pregnant women and 1920 women with children 0-5 months of age per survey round) provided data on impact indicators, intervention exposure and other factors. We derived difference-in-difference effect estimates (DID), adjusted for geographical clustering, for maternal dietary diversity, IFA consumption, and early breastfeeding practices. Results: More women in intervention areas had 4+ ANC visits (DID: 8.3 percentage points [pp]) and started ANC during the first trimester (DID: 10.5 pp), compared to control areas. Improvements were achieved in exposure to nutrition counseling on dietary diversity (DID: 44.4 pp), food quantity (DID: 42.9 pp), adequate weight gain (DID: 35.1 pp), and breastfeeding (DID: 25.9 pp). Women in intervention areas consumed more IFA supplements during pregnancy (DID: 21 tablets). Early initiation of and exclusive breastfeeding also improved (DID: 17.0 pp and 8.3 pp, respectively). However, dietary diversity (4 out of 10 food groups) and mean probability of adequacy of micronutrient intake (14%) among pregnant women remained low in both areas. Conclusions: Strengthening maternal nutrition interventions delivered through government ANC services was feasible and effective in improving maternal nutrition practices. Continued efforts to strengthen the delivery and use of maternal nutrition services may be required for greater behavior changes, and to address family support, social norms, and other factors to improve women’s diet during pregnancy.

Year published

2023

Authors

Kim, Sunny S.; Zagré, Rock Romaric; Ouédraogo, Césaire T.; Sununtnasuk, Celeste; Ganaba, Rasmané; Zafimanjaka, Maurice G.; Tharaney, Manisha; Sanghvi, Tina; Menon, Purnima

Citation

Kim, Sunny S.; Zagré, Rock R.; Ouédraogo, Césaire T.; Sununtnasuk, Celeste; Ganaba, Rasmané; Menon, Purnima; et al. 2024. Intensified nutrition interventions in antenatal care services increased consumption of iron and folic acid supplements and early breastfeeding practices in Burkina Faso: Results of a cluster-randomized program evaluation. Journal of Nutrition 153(10): 3058-3067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.06.016

Country/Region

Burkina Faso

Keywords

Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Foods; Pregnancy; Weight; Micronutrient Deficiencies; Iron; Breastfeeding; Diet; Maternal Nutrition; Folic Acid; Health Care; Perinatal Period; Dietary Diversity

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.06.016 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

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