Examination of the Five Comparable Component Scores of the Diet Quality Indexes HEI-2005 and RC-DQI Using a Nationally Representative Sample of 2–18 Year Old Children: NHANES 2003–2006

Table 1

(a) Scoring scheme of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2005. (b) Components and scoring scheme for the Revised Children's Diet Quality Index (RC-DQI): girls. (c) Components and scoring scheme for the Revised Children's Diet Quality Index (RC-DQI): boys.

(a)

HEI 2005*
Component	Max points	Max score; (per 1000 kcal)	Min score
Total fruit	5	≥0.8 c equiv.	No fruit
Whole fruit; (no juice)	5	≥0.4 c equiv.	No whole fruit
Total vegetables	5	≥1.1 c equiv.	No vegetables
Dark green and orange vegetables and legumes	5	≥0.4 c equiv.	No dark green or orange vegetables or legumes
Total grains	5	≥3.0 oz equiv.	No grains
Whole grains	5	≥1.5 oz equiv.	No whole grains
Milk	10	≥1.3 c equiv.	No milk
Meat and beans	10	≥2.5 oz equiv.	No meat or beans
Oils	10	≥12 grams	No oil
Saturated fat	10	≤7% of energy	≥15% of energy
Sodium	10	≤0.7 gram	≥2.0 g per 1000 kcal
SoFAAS**	20	≤20% of energy	≥50% of energy

∗Excerpted from: P. M. Guenther, S. M. Krebs-Smith, J. Reedy, P. Britten, W. Y. Juan, M. Lino, A. Carlson, H. A. Hiza, and P. Basiotis: Healthy Eating Index-2005 fact sheet. Alexandria, VA: United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion; 2006.
∗∗Calories from solid fats, alcoholic beverages, and added sugars.

(b)

Component	Score	Age (years)																	Scoring criteria
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Added sugar^a	10	≤10% total energy																	WHO
Fat^a	2.5	30–40%		25–35% total energy															AMDR
Linoleic acid (18_2)^a	2.5	≤5–10% of total energy																	(ω-6 f.a.)
Linolenic acid (18_3)^a	2.5	0.6–1.2% of total energy																	(ω-3 f.a.)
DHA and EPA^a	2.5	≤10% of 𝛼-linolenic acid																	(More potent ω-3 f.a.)
Total grains^a,c	5	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	Food groups
Whole grains^a,c	5	1.5	1.5	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	Food groups
Fruit^a,c	10	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	Food groups
Vegetable^a,c	10	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	Food groups
Excess juice^a	10	6	6	6	6	6	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	AAP age-appropriate limit
Dairy^a,c	10	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	Food groups and AAP
Iron^b		≤3.0		≤4.1					≤5.7					≤7.9					≤EAR = 0 points
	10	3.1–6.9		4.2–9.9					5.8–7.9					8.0–14.9					EAR-RDA = 5 points
		≥7		≥10					≥8					≥15					≥RDA = 10 points
TV/energy ^a,d	10	EER: 1072	EER: 1080	EER: 1133	EER: 1189	EER: 1247	EER: 1298	EER: 1360	EER: 1415	EER: 1470	EER: 1538	EER: 1617	EER: 1684	EER: 1718	EER: 1731	EER: 1729	EER: 1710	EER: 1690	2 hours TV; Energy ± 10% of EER
Total Points	90

aContinuous score.
bCategorical variable based on less than EAR (0 pts), EAR-RDA (5 pts), or meets RDA (10 pts).
cDietary Guidelines MyPyramid food group patterns by age-appropriate energy patterns (page 292).
dCombined score: (TV score + energy score)/2.
TV score: ≤2 hours of TV = 10 points.
EER score = 0.9 * EER to 1.1 * EER = 10 points, otherwise for overconsumption 10 points − ((actual intake/highest EER point * 100))%, for underconsumption 10 − (actual intake/lowest EER point * 100)%.

(c)

Component	Score	Age (years)																	Scoring criteria
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Added sugar^a	10	≤10% of total energy intake																	WHO
Fat^a	2.5	30–40%		25–35%															AMDR
Linoleic acid (18_2)^a	2.5	≤5–10% of total energy																	(ω-6 f.a.)
Linolenic acid (18_3)^a	2.5	0.6–1.2% of total energy																	(ω-3 f.a.)
DHA and EPA^a	2.5	≤10% of 𝛼-linolenic acid																	(More potent ω-3 f.a.)
Total grains^a,c	5	3	3	5	5	5	5	5	7	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	9	9	Food groups
Whole grains^a,c	5	1.5	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	Food groups
Fruit^a,c	10	1.5	1.5	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	Food groups
Vegetable^a,c	10	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	Food groups
Excess juice^a	10	6	6	6	6	6	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	AAP age-appropriate limit
Dairy^a,c	10	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	Food groups and AAP
Iron^b		≤3.0		≤4.1					≤5.9					≤7.7					≤EAR = 0 points
	10	3.1–6.9		4.2–9.9					6.0–7.9					7.8–10.9					EAR-RDA = 5 points
		≥7		≥10					≥8					≥11					≥RDA = 10 points
TV/energy^a,d	10	EER: 1120	EER: 1162	EER: 1215	EER: 1275	EER: 1328	EER: 1393	EER: 1453	EER: 1530	EER: 1601	EER: 1691	EER: 1798	EER: 1935	EER: 2090	EER: 2223	EER: 2320	EER: 2366	EER: 2383	2 hours TV; Energy ± 10% of EER
Total Points	90

aContinuous score.
bCategorical variable based on less than EAR (0 pts), EAR-RDA (5 pts), or meets RDA (10 pts).
cDietary Guidelines MyPyramid food group patterns by age-appropriate energy patterns (page 292).
dCombined score: (TV score + energy score)/2.
TV score: ≤2 hours of TV = 10 points.
EER score = 0.9 * EER to 1.1 * EER = 10 points, otherwise for overconsumption 10 points − ((actual intake/highest EER point * 100))%, for underconsumption 10 − (actual intake/lowest EER point * 100)%.
Imputation data, if TV/screen time was missing in the dataset:
2–4 year olds: 2 hours (28).
2–6 year olds: 2 hours/d.
7–9 year olds: 3.5 hours/d (includes video and videogames) (29).
8–10 year olds: 4.5 hours/d.
11–14 year olds: 4.5 hours/d.
15–18 year olds: 3.5 hours/d (30).
10–19 year olds: 3 hours/d (31).
6–19 year olds: 4–6 hours/d (32).
Use for RC-DQI coding:
2–6 year olds: 2 hours/d.
7–14 year olds: 4 hours/d.
15–18 year olds: 3.5 hours/d.