Table 1.

Group classification of dietary and health indices

Group classification		Characteristics	Examples
Group A: Nutrient/food quantity based indices	A1	Ratio between nutrient/ food content and reference amount (i.e., DRI) for qualifying and disqualifying nutrients and/or foods	• Nutrient rich food indices (NRF) • Nutrient balance concept (NBC)
	A2	Categorized or dichotomous indices used as front-of-package nutritional labels (FOPNL)	• Nutri-Score (NS) • Health star rating system
Group B: Guideline based indices		Based on the adherence to specific guidelines on healthy eating	• Healthy eating index (HEI) • Mediterranean eating index (MEI)
Group C: Diversity based indices		Based on nutrients/food group diversity	• Dietary diversity score (DDS)
Group D: Nutrient quality-based indices		Considers nutrient quality characteristics specific to one or more nutrients (bioavailability, digestibility, etc.)	• Digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS)
Group E: Health based indices		It accounts for health impacts of foods and diets based on dietary risk factors	• Health nutritional index (HENI)