Abstract
We developed and tested tools for the rapid appraisal of the health and nutrition profile of adolescent girls (11 14 years). The sample consisted of 80 girls, their mothers (n=61) or married older sisters (n=3), 6 village-level workers, their helpers, and four doctors in Ladosarai village in Delhi, India. Girls carried out rapid assessment exercises for mapping food intake and occurrence of diseases according to season, and actively participated in focus group discussions. They also ranked their families accurately according to relative wealth. There was no significant difference between the mean nutrient intakes obtained by the conventional and modified rapid assessment 24-hour recall (p>.05). The rapid assessment methodology not only helped save survey time but also added depth and gave new insights into the girls’ hearth and nutrition problems and perceptions.