Diet quality assessment indexes

Abstract

A B S T R A C TVarious indices and scores based on admittedly healthy dietary patterns or food guides for the general population, or aiming at the prevention of diet-related diseases have been developed to assess diet quality. The four indices preferred by most studies are: the Diet Quality Index; the Healthy Eating Index; the Mediterranean Diet Score; and the Overall Nutritional Quality Index. Other instruments based on these indices have been developed and the words 'adapted', 'revised', or 'new version I, II or III' added to their names. Even validated indices usually find only modest associations between diet and risk of disease or death, raising questions about their limitations and the complexity associated with measuring the causal relationship between diet and health parameters. The objective of this review is to describe the main instruments used for assessing diet quality, and the applications and limitations related to their use and interpretation.Indexing terms: Diet. Diet mediterranean. Indexes. R E S U M O Para avaliação da qualidade da dieta, diferentes índices ou escores foram desenvolvidos, considerando padrões dietéticos reconhecidamente saudáveis ou baseando-se em guias alimentares para populações em geral ou para a prevenção de doenças. Dos vários índices, quatro deles servem de base para a maior parte dos estudos

Diet Quality and Cancer Outcomes in Adults: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

“…It has previously been reported that a diet lower in fat (20% vs.. 30% of total energy) may be associated with reduced risk of breast cancer in ER– females [ 90 ]. The diet quality indices in this review that were associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer were the MDS, HEI, DASH, and RFS, or variations thereof, and, although these indices do not typically quantify total fat intake, they do score the type of fat, particularly saturated fat [ 91 ]. Higher intakes of saturated fats have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer [ 92 ].…”

Diet Quality and Diet Diversity in Eight Latin American Countries: Results from the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS)

“…In addition, European countries also use the MedDietScore (MDS), PREDIMED Mediterranean Diet Score, (P-MDS), and Dutch Healthy Diet-Index (DHDI), among others [8]. Other countries such as Brazil and Singapore, have reported using the Healthy Diet Indicator, the Diet Quality Index, and Overall Nutritional Quality Index [17,18]. Both DQS and DDS are cost-effective, non-invasive tools to assess dietary patterns within a population and can be used to orientate public health policies, communicate risk and targeted preventive lifestyle or pharmacological interventions [9].…”

Changes in diet quality during a 12 month weight loss randomised controlled trial

“…Diet quality (DQ) is a central parameter of dietary pattern research. The DQ concept is used to evaluate the diets of populations or individuals [10][11][12], assess the effectiveness of nutrition interventions [13] and expose diet-disease associations [14]. Arising largely from epidemiological studies, the DQ concept encapsulates descriptors related to nutrition, such as, "healthy diet, balanced diet, nutritious food, etc."…”

“…Recognised complexities emerging from nutrition epidemiology [19][20][21] have exposed the necessity for a more integrated approach utilising diet quality indices (DQIs) to examine the 'whole of diet' effects [22]. Several reviews [12,14,[23][24][25][26][27] have identified multiple DQIs that vary in design and the referent food or nutrient characteristics. DQIs tend to be applied in epidemiological studies to establish diet-disease links, characterise patterns of food consumption or evaluate adherence to country-specific dietary guidelines [28][29][30][31].…”