Table 1.
Standards for Maximum Scores Across 5 Dietary Quality Indices in the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study, United States, 1995–2011
| Diet Quality Indices | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diet Quality Component | HEI-2015 | AHEI-2010 | aMed a | DASH-Fung b | DASH-Mellen |
| Adequacy components | |||||
| Calcium | ≥590 mg/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Fiber | ≥14.8 g/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Magnesium | ≥238 mg/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Potassium | ≥2,238 mg/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Protein | ≥18% kcal/day | ||||
| MUFA:saturated fat ratio | ≥ median: M: 1.2; W: 1.2 | ||||
| PUFA | ≥10% kcal/day | ||||
| PUFA+MUFA:saturated fat ratio | ≥2.5 | ||||
| EPA+DHA | 250 mg/day | ||||
| Fruits | ≥0.8 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ≥ median (cup eq/day):M: 1.7; W: 1.7 | Fifth quintile (cup eq/day):M: ≥3.0; W: ≥2.9 | ||
| Fruits, whole | ≥0.4 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ≥4 servings/day | |||
| Grains, whole | ≥1.5 ounce eq/1,000 kcal | M: 90; g/day W: 75 g/day | ≥ median (ounce eq/day):M: 0.9; W: 0.7 | Fifth quintile (ounce eq/day): M: ≥1.6; W: ≥1.3 | |
| Vegetables | ≥1.1 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ≥5 servings/day | ≥ median (cup eq/day):M: 1.3; W: 1.7 | Fifth quintile (cup eq/day):M: ≥2.7; W: ≥2.7 | |
| Greens and beans | ≥0.2 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Total protein foods | ≥2.5 ounce eq/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Seafood and plant protein | ≥0.8 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Fish | ≥ median (ounce eq/day):M: 0.5; W: 0.4 | ||||
| Legumes | ≥ median (cup eq/day):M: 0.1; W: 0.04 | ||||
| Nuts | ≥ median (ounce eq/day):M: 0.3; W: 0.2 | ||||
| Nuts and legumes | ≥1 serving/day | Fifth quintile (ounce eq/day) M: ≥1.0; W: ≥0.6 | |||
| Dairy | ≥1.3 cup eq/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Low-fat dairy | Fifth quintile (cup eq/day)M: ≥2.1; W: ≥1.9 | ||||
| Moderation components | |||||
| Total fat | ≤27% kcal/day | ||||
| Saturated fat | ≤8% kcal/day | ≤6% kcal/day | |||
| Trans-fat | ≤0.5% kcal/day | ||||
| Cholesterol | ≤71.4 mg/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Sodium | ≤1.1 g/1,000 kcal | Lowest decile (mg/day): M: ≤ 1,609; W: ≤ 1,242 | First quintile (mg/day): M: ≤ 1970; W: ≤ 1,531 | ≤1,143 mg/1,000 kcal | |
| Red and processed meats | 0 servings/day | < median (ounce eq/day): M: 2.19; W: 1.27 | First quintile (ounce eq/day): M: ≤ 1.1; W: ≤ 0.6 | ||
| SSB and fruit juices | 0 servings/day | First quintile (cup eq/day) M: ≤ 0.2; W: ≤ 0.1 | |||
| Alcohol | drinks/day: M: 0.5–2.0; W: 0.5–1.5 | M: 10–25; W: 5–15 g/day | |||
| Grains, refined | ≤1.8 ounce eq/1,000 kcal | ||||
| Added sugars | ≤6.5% kcal/day | ||||
Abbreviations: AHEI-2010, Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010, aMed, alternate Mediterranean diet; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; eq, equivalent; HEI-2015, Healthy Eating Index-2015; M, men; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; SSB, sugar-sweetened beverages; W, women.
a Sex specific medians.
b Sex-specific quintiles.