Proper nutrition is essential for women of reproductive age (WRA) as it promotes hormonal balance, fertility, and healthy pregnancy and lactation. Dietary diversity (DD) is an important component of diet quality and Minimum dietary diversity has been widely used as a proxy indicator for micronutrient adequacy. There is a notable lack of studies in Egypt addressing dietary diversity among WRA. This study investigated the dietary diversity among those who attended an urban and a rural health care facilities in Egypt. A cross-sectional study was carried out between January 2024 and June 2025 in two healthcare facilities in El- Mahalla El- Kubra district: an urban comprehensive center and a rural primary health care unit. A total of 400 women aged 15–49 years were chosen by systematic random sampling. Data were collected by direct interviews, which included sociodemographic information, 24-hour dietary recall, and food frequency questionnaire. The statistical analysis used chi-square tests, with p-values < 5% considered significant. More than half (52.5%) of participants reported inadequate DD. Urban women had considerably more DD (52.1%) than rural ones (42.2%). Lactating women had the greatest dietary diversity among urban women (60.9%), while non-pregnant, non-lactating women reported the lowest percentage of diversed diet among urban and rural participants. Women with easy access to food reported higher sufficiency (56.5%) compared to those affected by high food prices (35.3%) (p < 0.001). Urban women consumed more meat, fish, nuts, and vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables, but rural women consumed more eggs and pulses. Grains were the most often consumed dietary group (98.3%). Unemployment, poor educational level, non-pregnancy and non-lactation status, and limited food availability were all significant indicators of insufficient dietary diversity. The study identifies significant dietary diversity gaps, notably among rural women, non-pregnant, and non-lactating women, stressing the importance of targeted nutrition interventions and socioeconomic empowerment.
Hassan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.