Knowledge Tree
Healthy Eating Index
Also known as: HEI, HEI-Flex, U.S. Healthy Eating Index, Healthy Eating Index 2010
Facts (42)
Sources
Dietary Guidelines and Quality - Principles of Nutritional Assessment nutritionalassessment.org 25 facts
referenceMany countries have developed indices measuring adherence to national dietary guidelines based on the Healthy Eating Index concept, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Thailand.
claimThe Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) includes nine adequacy components and four moderation components.
procedureThe Healthy Eating Index (HEI) can be calculated using data from quantitative 24-hour recalls, food records, or food frequency questionnaires.
procedureAssessing diet quality using the Healthy Eating Index requires detailed quantitative dietary intake data in grams or standard servings, as well as linkages to databases containing information on nutrients and food groups.
referenceThe U.S. 'Healthy Eating Index' (HEI) is a dietary quality index that measures adherence to U.S. dietary guidelines.
procedureThe Healthy Eating Index awards 60 points for adequacy components and 40 points for moderation components, with intakes between minimum and maximum scores for each component scored proportionally.
referenceWidely used diet quality metrics include the U.S. Healthy Eating Index (which measures adherence to national food-based dietary guidelines), Mediterranean diet scores and indices (which measure adherence to healthy regional diets), and other measures based on epidemiological evidence linking dietary patterns to health outcomes.
claimThe Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was first published in 1995 (Kennedy et al., 1995) and was updated in 2005, 2010, and 2015 to reflect new and revised guidance (Krebs-Smith et al., 2018).
claimThe U.S. dietary guidelines are intended to ensure nutrient adequacy and to reduce risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) reflects both of these goals.
claimThe Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was designed to reflect adherence to the U.S. national dietary guidelines, which apply to all individuals aged 2 years and older.
referenceThe Healthy Eating Index components consist of food and beverage groups, nutrients such as fatty acids and sodium, and added sugar, which are typically expressed as densities per 1000 kilocalories.
claimPrevious versions of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) have been associated with reduced risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mortality in numerous studies, including research by Liese et al. (2015) and Schwingshackl & Hoffmann (2015).
claimThe Healthy Eating Index (HEI) measures adherence to key recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
claimThe Alternate Healthy Eating Index showed stronger associations with cardiovascular disease outcomes for both men and women compared to the original Healthy Eating Index, according to research by McCullough et al. (2000).
referenceThe Healthy Eating Index applies to children aged two years and older, adolescents, and adults.
claimA graded approach can be used to qualitatively describe population-level Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores, assigning an 'A' for 90 to 100 points and a 'B' for 80 to 89 points, though these categorized grades should not be used for analysis because categorization causes information loss and potential misclassification.
procedureFor most uses, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) should be calculated based on usual dietary intake, which accounts for day-to-day variability in intakes (Kirkpatrick et al., 2018).
claimThe percent of energy from ultra-processed foods index can be used for different age groups and at different levels to characterize diets, menus, and food supplies, similar to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI).
claimThe Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) demonstrated criterion-related validity in a prospective cohort study, where individuals in the highest quintile of HEI-2015 scores had a decreased risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality compared to those in the lowest quintile.
referenceThe Healthy Eating Index scoring is based on a priori criteria derived from U.S. dietary guidelines rather than study-specific or relative metrics like quartiles.
procedureRadar graphs can be used to visualize population-level dietary patterns for the Healthy Eating Index-2015 by plotting each component score as a percentage of maximum points on an axis, where the perimeter represents a perfect score.
referenceThe Healthy Eating Index can be used to assess diet quality at various levels, including populations, menus, and food supplies.
claimThe original Healthy Eating Index (HEI) consisted of 10 components, including five food groups reflecting adequacy, four nutrients reflecting moderation, and a measure of variety in food intake, with a total possible score of 100.
measurementA difference or change of 5–6 points in Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores represents a 'moderate' effect size for the U.S. population, though this may not apply to other populations due to variations in score dispersion.
claimThe Healthy Eating Index-2015 measures adherence to the 2015–2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
Diet Quality Indices: Measures for Bridging Nutrition and Public Health link.springer.com 2 days ago 11 facts
referenceKrebs-Smith SM, Pannucci TE, Subar AF et al. (2018) published an update of the Healthy Eating Index, known as HEI-2015, in J Acad Nutr Diet 118(9):1591–1602.
referencePrevidelli et al. (2011) published a revised version of the Healthy Eating Index specifically adapted for the Brazilian population.
referenceMorze J, Danielewicz A, Hoffmann G, Schwingshackl L (2020) published a systematic review and meta-analysis in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics titled 'Diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index, Alternate Healthy Eating Index, dietary approaches to stop hypertension score, and health outcomes: a second update of a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies'.
referenceFrank SM et al. (2024) published a study in PLoS One comparing the Planetary Health Diet Index, Healthy Eating Index-2015, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) in relation to dietary quality and cardiometabolic indicators in the USA.
claimBruns et al. (2022) applied a modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI-Flex) to compare the diet quality of flexitarians, vegans, and omnivores in Germany.
referenceJessri M, Ng AP, L’Abbé MR (2017) adapted the Healthy Eating Index 2010 for the Canadian population using evidence from the Canadian National Nutrition Survey, published in Nutrients 9(8):910.
referenceSchwingshackl, Bogensberger, and Hoffmann (2018) performed an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies assessing diet quality via the Healthy Eating Index, Alternate Healthy Eating Index, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score in relation to health outcomes.
referenceThe abbreviation HEI stands for Healthy Eating Index.
referenceSchap, Kuczynski, and Hiza (2017) provided an analysis of the Healthy Eating Index beyond just the numerical score.
referenceGuenther PM et al. (2013) published an update to the Healthy Eating Index, titled 'Update of the Healthy Eating Index: HEI-2010', in the J Acad Nutr Diet.
referenceOnvani S, Haghighatdoost F, Surkan PJ et al. (2017) published a meta-analysis in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics titled 'Adherence to the Healthy Eating Index and Alternative Healthy Eating Index dietary patterns and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies'.
Global overview of dietary outcomes and dietary intake assessment ... link.springer.com Aug 21, 2021 1 fact
claimAdvanced statistical methods, such as factor analysis for dietary patterns, and complex indicators, such as the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) or Dietary Diversity (DD), are useful for analyzing the association between dietary intakes and non-communicable diseases in maritime settings.
Measurement of diets that are healthy, environmentally sustainable ... frontiersin.org 1 fact
claimDiet scores or indices are used to assess the level of adherence to a specific benchmark, such as the Healthy Eating Index.
Global dietary quality in 185 countries from 1990 to 2018 show wide ... nature.com Sep 19, 2022 1 fact
referenceDiet quality scores, such as the Healthy Eating Index, Alternate Healthy Eating Index, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score, are associated with health outcomes.
a synthesis of dietary quality metrics and their validity for the double ... research.manchester.ac.uk 1 fact
claimFour non-communicable disease (NCD) dietary metrics—the Mediterranean Diet Score, Alternative Healthy Eating Index, Healthy Eating Index, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension—have convincing evidence of protective associations with specific NCD outcomes, including mortality, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and total cancer.
A Scoping Review of Indicators for Sustainable Healthy Diets frontiersin.org Jan 12, 2022 1 fact
claimThe most frequently used composite indicators for assessing diet quality include healthy eating indices based on national dietary guidelines (such as the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index, the DHD15-Index, and the Healthy Eating Index), Mediterranean Diet Scores, and the PANDiet score.
(PDF) Defining diet quality: a synthesis of dietary quality metrics and ... researchgate.net Aug 4, 2020 1 fact
claimThe Mediterranean Diet Score, the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, the Healthy Eating Index, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop [Hypertension] are identified as four dietary metrics used for non-communicable disease (NCD) research.