Table 2.

Healthy Eating Index-2005 component and total scores for foods and beverages offered to preschool children at 20 child-care centers in North Carolina compared to the recommended scores¹, ²

Healthy Eating Index- 2005 (HEI-2005) component	Recommended HEI-2005 Component Score	Mean Score	Standard Deviation	Range	Range Percent Meeting Recommendation % (n)
		(n=20 child-care centers)	(n=20 child-care centers)	(n=20 child-care centers)	(n=20 child-care centers)
Total fruit (including 100% fruit juice)	5	4.69	0.81	2.06 – 5.00	85 (17)
Whole fruit	5	4.70	0.74	1.81 – 5.00	75 (15)
Total vegetables	5	2.26*	1.09	1.01 – 4.76	0 (0)
Dark green and orange vegetables and legumes	5	0.20*	0.43	0.00 – 1.48	0 (0)
Total grains	5	1.09*	1.25	0.00 – 4.77	0 (0)
Whole grains	5	1.29*	1.65	0.00 – 5.00	10 (2)
Milk	10	10.00	0	10.00	100 (20)
Meats and beans	10	6.51*	2.75	1.14 – 10.00	20 (4)
Oils	10	0.44*	0.25	0.12 – 1.22	0 (0)
Saturated fat	10	3.32*	3.41	0.00 – 10.00	10 (2)
Sodium	10	9.85	0.67	7.03 – 10.00	95 (19)
Calories from solid fats and added sugars	20	14.76*	4.08	8.48 – 20.00	20 (4)
Total HEI-2005 score	100	59.12*	8.05	47.30 – 76.81

¹Total fruit, whole fruit, total vegetables, dark green and orange vegetables and legumes, total grains, whole grains, milk, meats and beans, and oils represent foods for which adequate intake is recommended. Higher scores reflect higher intakes for these components.

²Saturated fat, sodium, and calories from solid fats and added sugars (alcohol was not provided to children, as expected), represent aspects of the diet that should be consumed in moderation. For these components, higher scores reflect lower intakes because lower intakes are preferred.

^*Mean scores were significantly different from the maximum recommended scores at the p<0.01 level.