%0 Journal Article %T Food variety, dietary diversity, and food characteristics among convenience samples of Guatemalan women %A Soto-M¨¦ndez %A Mar¨ªa Jos¨¦ %A Campos %A Raquel %A Hern¨¢ndez %A Liza %A Orozco %A M¨®nica %A Vossenaar %A Marieke %A Solomons %A Noel W %J Salud P¨²blica de M¨¦xico %D 2011 %I Instituto Nacional de Salud P¨²blica %R 10.1590/S0036-36342011000400003 %X objective: to compare variety and diversity patterns and dietary characteristics in guatemalan women. material and methods: two non-consecutive 24-h recalls were conducted in convenience samples of 20 rural mayan women and 20 urban students. diversity scores were computed using three food-group systems.variety and diversity scores and dietary origin and characteristics were compared between settings using independent t-test or mann-whitney-u-test. results: dietary variety and diversity were generally greater in the urban sample when compared to the rural sample, depending on the number of days and food-group system used for evaluation.the diet was predominantly plant-based and composed of non-fortified food items in both areas.the rural diet was predominantly composed of traditional,non-processed foods. the urban diet was mostly based on non-traditional and processed items. conclusion: considerations of intervention strategies for dietary improvement and health protection for the guatemalan countryside should still rely on promotion and preservation of traditional food selection. %K diet quality %K feeding practices %K variety %K diversity %K guatemala. %U http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0036-36342011000400003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en