Table 1.
Construction of the healthy eating index—for monitoring (HEI-MON) and the planetary healthy eating index—for monitoring (PHEI-MON): food groups, FFQ-items, intake recommendations, evaluation principles and scoring
| FFQ-itemsa | Recommendationb | Rule for point allocation | Scoring 0–100 points, depending on the amount consumed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 points | Points are reduced proportionately | Points are reduced proportionately | 0 points | |||||
| Healthy eating index—for monitoring (HEI-MON) | Cereals/bread | 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 | 200–310 g/day | Optimal | 200–620 g | < 200 g | > 620 g | > 930 g |
| Side dishes (potatoes, pasta, rice) | 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 | 150–250 g/day | Optimal | 150–500 g | < 150 g | > 500 g | > 750 g | |
| Vegetables/legumes | 4, 29, 30, 31 | 3 portions/dayc | Plenty | ≥ 3 portions | < 3 portions | 0 portions | ||
| Fruits/nuts | 3, 27, 28, 43 | 2 portions/dayd | Plenty | ≥ 2 portions | < 2 portions | 0 portions | ||
| Milk/dairy products | 1, 13, 15 | 200–250 g/day | Optimal | 200–250 g | < 200 g | > 250 g | > 500 g | |
| Cheese | 14 | 50–60 g/day | Optimal | 50–60 g | < 50 g | > 60 g | > 120 g | |
| Eggs | 18 | 26 g/day | Optimal | 26 g | < 26 g | > 26 g | > 52 g | |
| Fish | 25, 26 | 21–31 g/day | Optimal | 21–31 g | < 21 g | > 31 g | > 62 g | |
| Meat/processed meat | 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 | If any 43–86 g/day | Optimal | 0–86 g | > 86 g | > 172 g | ||
| Free Sugar | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 | 0–60 g/daye | Sparingly | 0 g | > 0 g | > 60 g | ||
| Planetary healthy eating index—for monitoring (PHEI-MON) | Whole grains | 9, 10 | 0–60% of energy intake | Optimal | ≥ 15–60% | < 15% | > 60% | 100% |
| Potatoes | 34, 35, 36, 42 | 50 (0–100) g/day | Optimal | 50–100 g | < 50 g | > 100 g | > 200 | |
| Vegetables | 4, 29, 31 | 300 (200–600) g/dayf | Plenty | ≥ 300 g | < 300 g | 0 g | ||
| Fruits | 3, 27, 28 | 200 (100–300) g/dayf | Plenty | ≥ 200 g | < 200 g | 0 g | ||
| Nutsg | 43 | 50 (25–100) g/day | Plenty | ≥ 50 g | < 50 g | 0 g | ||
| Legumesh | 30 | 143 (0–268) g/day | Plenty | ≥ 143 g | < 143 g | 0 g | ||
| Milk equivalentsi | 1, 13, 14, 15 | 250 (0–500) g/day | Optimal | 250 g | < 250 g | > 250 g | > 500 g | |
| Red meat | 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 | 14 (0–28) g/day | Sparingly | 0 g | > 0 g | > 28 g | ||
| Poultryj | 19 | 29 (0–58) g/day | Optimal | 0–29 g | > 29 g | > 58 g | ||
| Eggs | 18 | 13 (0–25) g/day | Optimal | 13 g | < 13 g | > 13 g | > 25 g | |
| Fish | 25, 26 | 28 (0–100) g/day | Optimal | 28 g | < 28 g | > 28 g | > 100 g | |
| Added sugars | 2, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 | 31 (0–31) g/day | Sparingly | 0 g | > 0 g | > 31 g | ||
aFor food frequency questionnaire items see SI 1
bHEI-MON based on the German Food Based Dietary Guidelines of the German Nutrition Society [3, 9], PHEI-MON based on the healthy reference diet of the EAT-Lancet Commission[2]
cOne portion of legumes is 125 g, one portion of vegetables is 133 g, up to one glass of vegetables juice was included in the amount vegetables consumed
dOne portion of nuts is 25 g, one Portion of fruits is 125 g, up to one glass of fruit juice was included in the amount fruits consumed
eIn the German food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) there is no specific recommendation for sugar intake, therefore the tolerated amount was derived from another source [53] and corresponds to a maximum of 10% of the total energy. For a total energy intake of 2400 kcal this is 60 g free sugars [9]
fUp to one glass of juice was included in the amount consumed
gThis food group includes tree nuts and peanuts
hDry weights of these food group were converted to consumed amounts with a factor of 2.86 according to [6]
iDairy products were converted to milk using the following factors: item 15: factor 3; item 16: factor 7; item 17: factor 2
jPoultry can be exchanged by fish and/or eggs