Minimum Dietary Diversity for Children aged 6–23 months as a predictor of micronutrient adequacy in Ethiopia: Validation of the proxy indicator

The MDD-C had a moderate positive correlation and a fair predictive ability with the MAR to accurately predict micronutrient intake adequacy at the optimal cutoff, despite poor sensitivity and high specificity at the standard cutoff. Countries need to adapt MDD-C cutoffs to local dietary patterns to improve accuracy. WHO and UNICEF should revisit the global application of a uniform cutoff and support the development of context-specific thresholds. This study in Ethiopia underscores the importance of further research to reassess the effectiveness of MDD-C as a proxy indicator for determining micronutrient adequacy across diverse populations and multiple countries.