Title: Release of "Diet Quality of Americans in 1994-96 and 2001-02 as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005"

Author: WenYen Juan, PhD (wenyen.juan@cnpp.usda.gov)

Section/SPIG: Food and Nutrition

Issue Date:

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Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI-2005) scores for Americans have been released by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) and are available at http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/HealthyEatingIndex.htm.  The HEI-2005 measures the diet quality of Americans in terms of how food intakes compare with recommendations from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  This report presents baseline scores for the years 1994-96 and 2001-02.  The CSFII and NHANES national dietary intake surveys were used to calculate 12 component scores and a total score.  CNPP recommends using the component scores along with the total score for a better understanding of diet quality.  A documented version of the SAS code used to create the population scores will be released in the future.  The HEI-2005 utilizes a density approach to diet quality by measuring intake of dietary components on a per calorie basis.  More information on the components, the scoring system, and development and evaluation of the HEI-2005 can be found here.