The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a measure of diet quality that assesses conformance to federal dietary guidance. USDA calculated Healthy Eating Index component and overall scores from dietary recall interviews collected during the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

The overall HEI score is the sum of 10 dietary components, weighted equally. Each component of the index has a maximum score of 10 and a minimum score of zero. The maximum overall HEI score is 100. High component scores indicate intakes close to the recommended ranges or amounts; low component scores indicate less compliance with the recommended ranges or amounts.

Healthy Eating Index
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This page last reviewed September 09, 2008