Table 2.
Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scoring method and total scores
| Component | Criteria for Minimum Scorea |
Criteria for Maximum Scorea |
Participant AHEI scores, mean points (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetables (servings/day) | 0 | 5 | 5.41 (2.84) |
| Fruit (servings/day) | 0 | 4 | 4.96 (2.38) |
| Nuts and soy protein (servings/day) | 0 | 1 | 6.00 (4.93) |
| Ratio of white to red meat | 0 | 4 | 2.44 (2.57) |
| Cereal fiber (grams/day) | 0 | 15 | 8.08 (2.74) |
| trans Fat (% of energy) | ≥4 | ≤0.5 | 7.49 (1.19) |
| Polyunsaturated to Saturated Fat ratio | ≤0.1 | ≥1.0 | 7.29 (1.83) |
| Duration of multivitamin useb | <5 years | ≥5 years | 3.77 (2.19) |
| Alcohol (servings/day) | 0 or >2.5 | 0.5 – 1.5 | 2.13 (3.95) |
| Total Score | 2.5 | 87.5 | 47.58 (14.25) |
Note.
a
Intermediate intakes were scored proportionately between 0 and 10.
b
Minimum score is 2.5 and maximum score is 7.5.