Intake and the Rockefeller Foundation have developed a suite of diet quality metrics for use in institutional feeding settings.

The Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS)-Meal and Menu metrics are designed to be easy-to-use, low-cost, and robust metrics for measuring the quality of meals served in institutional feeding programs, such as school feeding. Until recently there has not been a simple yet rigorous metric designed to measure the quality of the meals and menus served, particularly in low- and middle-income country contexts. 

The GDQS-Meal and Menu metrics build on the core principles and validity of the Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) metric but are modified to focus on quality at the meal level rather than for a 24-hour reference period, as well as considering whether the foods are fortified and biofortified. The final score of the GDQS-Meal and Menu metrics are derived from four sub-metrics that are: 1) the Healthy GDQS-Meal (or Menu) score, 2) the Unhealthy GDQS-Meal (or Menu) score, 3) the Fortification and Biofortification score, and 4) the Food Group Diversity score. 

To learn more about the GDQS-Meal and Menu metrics, you can read this brief overview in: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish.  

To ensure easy and efficient collection and use of the GDQS-Meal and Menu metrics, an Excel tool is available for data collection and tabulation.

If you are interested in discussing use of the metric or accessing the GDQS-Meal and Menu food database or Excel tool, please contact us at GDQS@FHI360.org.