SMARTness and the NAF

The need for SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) commitment-making had long been recognised by the global nutrition community. However, clear criteria, common principles and concrete guidance for supporting the formulation, assessment, and tracking of SMART nutrition commitments were missing. Critically, SMARTness was not formally conceptualised and quantified, limiting both assessment across diverse commitments and sharing of practical advice as to how commitments can be improved.

In response to this need, the GNR established clear criteria and comprehensive methods for defining, enabling, assessing and subsequently publicly reporting on the SMARTness of nutrition commitments. In particular, the GNR:

  • Defined the SMARTness of nutrition commitments by identifying the principles and criteria (20 SMART ingredients) required for commitments to be considered SMART.
  • Enabled the formulation and registration of SMART commitments by developing the Sign-up and Commitment Registration Forms (see the process for developing the NAF Commitment Registration Form). These forms include compulsory and standardised data fields (for all 20 SMART ingredients) that support the formulation of SMART commitments.
  • Assesses the SMARTness of nutrition commitments, by developing the Nutrition Action SMARTness Index. The Index ranks the SMARTness of nutrition commitments into four levels (High, Upper moderate, Lower moderate, Low) by evaluating three performance criteria:
    • SMARTness score. A scoring system, developed by the GNR, that assesses whether each of the SMART ingredients have been provided and are clearly described.
    • Trackability. Indicates whether all the essential ingredients for a commitment goal to be considered as trackable have been provided and are clearly described.
    • Completeness. Indicates for how many ingredients the GNR needs to go back to the commitment-maker and request clarifications.
  • Publicly reports on the SMARTness of nutrition commitments via the NAF Commitment Tracker.

The GNR, further aims to help stakeholders improve the SMARTness of their registered commitments, by verifying the self-reported data with them. Improvements in each of the performance criteria can result in improvements in the overall SMARTness ranking.