Improving dietary quality and diversity is a potentially critical intervention strategy to combat micronutrient deficiencies. Dietary quality in low- and middle-income countries is often limited by a lack of dietary diversity, the presence of food insecurity, and limited food access and availability. The impact of climate change on crop yields and nutrient composition complicates efforts to improve dietary quality. Adding animal source foods and use of traditional food processing techniques, such as fermentation, germination, and dehulling to improve iron status and bioavailability, are important considerations for programs, though evidence on the topic is limited and inconclusive.

Future research is expected to shed light on biological pathways through which climate change can influence the dietary supply of iron and to what extent animal-based or in vitro models for iron absorption can be translated into the human context. Randomized controlled clinical trials with large sample sizes will be needed to determine whether and to what extent novel and existing food formulations and recipes can affect the micronutrient status in deficient populations.