The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a measure of diet quality that assesses conformance to federal dietary guidance. USDA’s primary use of the HEI is to monitor the diet quality of the U.S. population and the low-income subpopulation. For this purpose the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) uses the data collected via 24-hour recalls of dietary intake in national surveys. The original HEI was created by CNPP in 1995. It was revised in 2006 by a federal working group, led by CNPP with members from the National Cancer Institute and the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, to reflect the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The HEI-2005 is described in a fact sheet and in a technical report on its development and evaluation. Population scores for 2001-2002 and 1994-96 are reported in a Nutrition Insight. A documented version of the SAS program used to estimate the scores and links to the databases used are available.

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Health Eating Index-2005 Reports

• Diet Quality of Americans in 1994-96 and 2001-02 as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (report, support files)

• Healthy Eating Index-2005 Development and Evaluation Technical Report (report, support files)

• Healthy Eating Index-2005 Fact Sheet

Original Healthy Eating Index Reports

• The Healthy Eating Index: 1999-2000

• The Healthy Eating Index: 1994-96

• The Healthy Eating Index (1989-90)

Archived Data Files for the Original Healthy Eating Index
 

Last Modified: 04/23/2008