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  • Publication | 2021
IPC Resource 05: Indicators
Global Food and Nutrition Security

The estimate of dietary energy consumption is typically provided by an assessment of the probability of energy intake in a population (or group of individuals) obtained from data collected through individual dietary intake. Based on collected data, individual energy adequacy vs. daily requirements can be calculated, taking into consideration the parameters which define energy requirements, including as age, sex, height, weight, health status and physical activity level. Surveys of energy intake provide precise information on the share of population that meets their individual energy requirements, and on the share of population that does not, thereby defining the potential gap between the requirements and the dietary energy consumed. The indicator provides direct information on food consumption quantity and possible consumption deficits, and as a result is considered as one of the best possible sources of data on actual food consumption depending, however, on the representativeness of the data and potential data collection limitations.