. 2022 Mar 17;6(5):nzac035. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzac035

TABLE 3.

Healthy Eating Index (HEI) total and component scores of adults (N = 9564) by quintile of animal protein (AP) intake¹, What We Eat in America, NHANES 2015–2018

HEI components	Q1²	Q2³	Q3⁴	Q4⁵	Q5⁶
(possible score)	Mean (SE)	Mean (SE)	Mean (SE)	Mean (SE)	Mean (SE)
Total HEI score (100)	53.8 (0.6)^a	50.0 (0.5)^b	48.8 (0.5)^b	49.1 (0.4)^b	48.6 (0.4)^b
Adequacy components
Total vegetables (5)	3.0 (0.07)	2.9 (0.06)	3.0 (0.06)	3.1 (0.05	2.9 (0.06)
Greens and beans (5)	1.6 (0.08)	1.4 (0.07)	1.4 (0.08)	1.5 (0.08)	1.3 (0.07)
Total fruits (5)	2.3 (0.08)^a	2.0 (0.07)^a	1.9 (0.07)^b	1.9 (0.07)^b	1.7 (0.07)^b
Whole fruits (5)	2.3 (0.08)^a	2.1 (0.08)^a^,^b	2.1 (0.08)^a^,^b	2.0 (0.08)^a^,^b	1.8 (0.08)^b
Whole grains (10)	3.6 (0.14)^a	2.7 (0.12)^b	2.6 (0.12)^b^,^c	2.1 (0.11)^c	1.6 (0.09)^d
Dairy (10)	3.6 (0.11)^a	4.8 (0.11)^b	5.1 (0.12)^b	5.2 (0.12)^b	5.3 (0.13)^b
Total protein foods (5)	3.4 (0.06)^a	4.0 (0.05)^b	4.3 (0.04)^c	4.7 (0.03)^d	4.8 (0.03)^e
Seafood/plant proteins (5)	3.1 (0.08)^a	2.4 (0.08)^b	2.0 (0.08)^c	1.8 (0.07)^c^,^d	1.6 (0.08)^d
Fatty acids (10)	6.1 (0.14)^a	5.1 (0.13)^b	4.6 (0.14)^b	4.5 (0.13)^b^,^c	4.5 (0.12)^c
Moderation components
Sodium (10)	5.6 (0.13)^a	4.7 (0.12)^b	4.2 (0.13)^b^,^c	3.8 (0.12)^c^,^d	3.2 (0.11)^d
Refined grains (10)	5.4 (0.14)^a	5.3 (0.13)^a	5.6 (0.13)^a	6.8 (0.11)^b	8.3 (0.08)^c
Added sugars (10)	7.0 (0.12)	6.8 (0.12)	6.8 (0.12)	7.0 (0.12)	7.1 (0.11)
Saturated fat (10)	6.8 (0.11)^a	5.9 (0.12)^b	5.1 (0.12)^c	4.8 (0.13)^c	4.6 (0.12)^c

Group comparisons were made by t-tests in a regression model adjusting for age, sex, income, race/ethnicity, and smoking.

Q1: Lowest quintile of animal protein (AP) (<49.8%).

Q2: Second lowest quintile of AP (49.8–61.7%).

⁴

Q3: Middle quintile of AP (61.8–70.0%).

⁵

Q4: Second highest quintile of AP (70.1–78.3%).

⁶

Q5: Highest quintile of AP (≥78.4%).

^a,b,c,d,eResults with different superscripts are significantly different, P <0.001.