Nutrition and Food Safety
The Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) Department is addressing the burden of disease from physical, chemical and microbial hazards in food and unhealthy diets, maternal and child malnutrition, overweight and obesity.
Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS)
The Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS), formerly known as the Micronutrient Deficiency Information System (MDIS), was established in 1991 following a request by the World Health Assembly to strengthen surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies at the global level.
The objectives of the VMNIS are to:
- Systematically retrieve and summarize data on vitamin and mineral status of populations.
- Provide Member States with up-to-date national, regional, and global assessments of the magnitude of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
- Track progress towards the goal of eliminating major vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
- Provide tools and resources to support efforts of Member States and their partners for assessing vitamin and mineral nutritional status in populations
The VMNIS has four main components: 1) The Micronutrients database; 2) Summaries of biochemical indicators for assessing the prevalence of various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in populations; 3) Surveillance tools; 3) Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status.
The Department of Nutrition and Food Safety manages the VMNIS through WHO's network of regional and country offices, and in close collaboration with national health authorities.
Micronutrients database
The Micronutrients Database is an interactive platform for summarizing data published in reports and manuscripts on the micronutrient status of populations representative at the national, regional (within-country) and first administrative level (e.g.
canton, state, province).
The Micronutrients Database was first developed as part of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, formerly known as the Micronutrient Deficiency Information System, in 1991. After a thorough evaluation of the database from the epidemiologic and public health informatics perspectives1, the database has been upgraded and expanded to include 40 indicators of the status of 17 micronutrients or micronutrient-related conditions, covering both deficiency and excess.
If you are aware of data not already in the database, a representative at the national, regional (within-country) or first administrative level (e.g. canton, state, province), we encourage you to send the published survey report or manuscript to nutrition@who.int
Indicators
This section aims to provide users of VMNIS with information on different biochemical indicators for assessing the prevalence of various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in populations. These documents are a compilation of current WHO recommendations on the topic from different sources. They summarize the currently recognized cut-offs for defining deficiencies and severity of deficiencies at the population level, and the chronology of their establishment.
The cut-offs included in these summaries are essential for identifying populations most at risk of deficiency and in need of intervention. They also permit both the monitoring of trends of vitamin and mineral deficiencies and the evaluation of the impact of interventions. Such assessments allow for the measurement of progress towards international goals of control and prevention of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Appropriate guidelines for measuring haemoglobin and defining anaemia are crucial for both clinical and public health medicine but require consideration...
14 December 2020
Serum ferritin concentrations for the assessment of iron status in individuals and populations: technical...
This technical brief aims to provide summarized information about the use of serum ferritin for assessing iron status in individuals and populations. It...
24 September 2014
Serum transferrin receptor levels for the assessment of iron status and iron deficiency in populations
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition System (VMNIS) with guidance about the use of serum transferrin receptor levels...
24 September 2014
Goitre as a determinant of the prevalence and severity of iodine deficiency disorders in populations
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) with guidance about the use of goitre for assessing...
24 September 2014
Serum and red blood cell folate concentrations for assessing folate status in populations
This document provides users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) guidance about the use of serum (or plasma) folate and red...
24 September 2014
Xerophthalmia and night blindness for the assessment of clinical vitamin A deficiency in individuals...
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) with information about the use of xerophthalmia and...
24 September 2014
C-reactive protein concentrations as a marker of inflammation or infection for interpreting biomarkers...
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) with information about the use of CRP as a marker of...
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System with guidance about the use of urinary iodine for assessing...
30 May 2011
Serum retinol concentrations for determining the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in populations
This document aims to provide users of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) with information about the use of serum retinol for...
Surveillance tools
Programmes and interventions
- Logic model for micronutrient interventions in public health
- e-Catalogue of indicators for micronutrient programmes
Survey methods
Micronutrient surveillance
Iodine
- Assessment of iodine deficiency disorders and monitoring their elimination
- Recommended iodine levels in salt and guidelines for monitoring their adequacy and effectiveness
Anaemia and iron
- WHO guideline on use of ferritin concentrations to assess iron status in individuals and populations
- Nutritional anaemias: tools for effective prevention and control
Vitamin A
Monitoring
Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status
WHO Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status serve as a directory of laboratories that are capable of assessing biomarkers of micronutrient status for health and nutrition surveys.
The purpose of this directory is to help Member States and their partners identify laboratories measuring biomarkers of vitamin and mineral status at the population level so that they may be able to further evaluate the laboratory for possible participation in their nutrition surveys.
WHO is currently inviting public and private laboratories around the world with previous experience in vitamin and mineral status assessment to register their laboratories in this global directory. This form is targeted towards directors, technical directors, managers, and laboratory technicians responsible for national public health laboratories, public or private laboratories for human diagnostics, hospitals, research centres, academic laboratories, and national reference laboratories involved in the execution of large surveys.
Publications
9 December 2020
Worldwide prevalence of anaemia 1993-2005
Anaemia is a public health problem that affects populations in both rich and poor countries. Its primary cause is iron deficiency, but a number of other...
30 September 2015
The global prevalence of anaemia in 2011
This document describes estimates of the prevalence of anaemia for the year 2011 in preschool-age children (6–59 months) and women of reproductive...
Every European nation endorsed the goal of eliminating iodine deficiency at the World Health Assembly in 1992. Globally, great progress has been made since...
28 November 1995
Global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is the single most important cause of childhood blindness in developing countries. It also contributes significantly, even at...
Peer-reviewed articles
Due to copyright arrangements, some of the links to articles may be not freely accessible.
- Garcia-Casal et al. Use and interpretation of hemoglobin concentrations for assessing anemia status in individuals and populations: results from a WHO technical meeting
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 1450, Issue 1, 5-14, 21 April 2019 - Rogers L et al. Global folate status in women of reproductive age: a systematic review with emphasis on methodological issues.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 1431, Issue 1, Special Issue, 35–57, November 2018 - Stevens G et al. Global, regional, and national trends in haemoglobin concentration and prevalence of total and severe anaemia in children and pregnant and non-pregnant women for 1995–2011: a systematic analysis of population-representative data
Lancet Global Health 2013, Vol 1:e16-25, July 2013 - Andersson M, Karumbunathan V, Zimmermann MB. Global iodine status in 2011 and trends over the past decade.
Journal of Nutrition, 2012 vol 142(4):744-50, April 2012 - van der Haar F et al. Universal salt iodization in the Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) Region during the decade 2000–09: Experiences, achievements, and lessons learned.
Food and Nutrition Bulletin, Public Health Nutrition, vol 32 (Supp 4), 173S-294S, December 2011 - Zimmermann MB, Andersson M. Prevalence of iodine deficiency in Europe in 2010
Annales d'endocrinologie, 2011 vol 72(2):164-6, April 2011 - Zimmermann MB. Symposium on ‘Geographical and geological influences on nutrition’ Iodine deficiency in industrialised countries.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2010), 69, 133–143. - McLean E et al. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993–2005
Public Health Nutrition, vol 23,1-11, May 2008 - De Benoist B et al. Iodine deficiency in 2007: Global progress since 2003.
Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol 29, no. 3, 195-202, September 2008 - Andersson M et al. Current global iodine status and progress over the last decade towards the elimination of iodine deficiency.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization; 2005 Jul;83(7):518-25. - De Benoist B et al. Prevalence of iodine deficiency worldwide.
The Lancet; 2003 Nov 29;362(9398):1859-60.
Additional resources
- Global anaemia reduction efforts among women of reproductive age: impact, achievement of targets and the way forward for optimizing efforts
- Investing in the future: A united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Global report 2009
- 6th report on the world nutrition situation: Progress in nutrition
United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition
Acknowledgements
WHO thanks the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program (IMMPaCt), the CDC National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Nutrition International (NI) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their technical and financial support, and in the upgrade and expansion of the Micronutrients database.
WHO also acknowledges the hard work and collaboration of many individuals, institutions, governments, non-governmental, and international organizations to keep VMNIS information up to date. Special thanks are due to ministries of health of the WHO Member States, WHO regional offices, WHO country offices and partner organizations, particularly the WHO Collaborating Centre on Implementation Research in Nutrition and Global Policy in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, the Iodine Global Network (IGN) and IZiNCG, in keeping the Micronutrients Database information up to date.
Related links
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, International Micronutrient Malnutrition and Prevention Program (MMPaCt)
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
- Nutrition International (NI)
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Cornell University, Division of Nutritional Sciences, WHO Collaborating Centre on Implementation Research in Nutrition and Global Policy
- Iodine Global Network (IGN)
- IZiNCG